Did you know the average time visitors spend looking at a website is less than 8 seconds? And for many websites it’s even as low as just 3 or 4 seconds.
That’s not a whole lot of time to capture their attention, interest and desire to inspire visitors to take action in becoming a lead.
If you’re ready to transform your small business website from being a cost center into a client generating profit center then use the following 7 most common website mistakes as your checklist to grading your website performance.
These are the 7 most common reasons why website visitors could be aborting your site and moving on to your competitors.
Here’s a rundown of what your website visitors could be thinking and how to fix it.
Reason #7. I have no idea what you do.
This happens when your copy is not specific enough, especially when the name of the business does not instantly define what you do.
Does your tagline clearly explain what you do and who you help?
Here are some actual examples of confusing taglines I found on my tour of websites:
X “Finding paths of opportunity” X “Envisioning the future” X “ We’re a new company and we like to have fun while working smartly, efficiently, and while constantly innovating.” X “Looking at information in new ways”
Hmmm… so would you get what any of those businesses do based on these taglines?
Reason #6. You sound like everyone else.
It’s important to keep in mind that the website visitors who are in the market to hire someone like you are most likely checking out a number of your competitors.
So, it’s not enough for you to state the obvious.
For example, if you’re a builder / remodeler it’s not enough for your website to simply tell people you do design and installation for kitchens, baths and additions.
Why not? … Because isn’t that what all builders and remodelers offer too?
Remember, you’ve got less than 8 seconds. You want to articulate your wow factor and stand out.
Reason #5. This looks like a student created your site.
You know the saying that you never get a second chance to make a great first impression.
If your website design looks sloppy and unprofessional it projects to your visitors that your services are probably sloppy and unprofessional too. It pays to hire a skilled web designer who has the graphic design abilities you may lack.
And for business owners on a tight budget there’s lots of great templates today that can quickly transform an ugly website into a gorgeous, professional looking site.
Reason #4. It’s too hard to read your website.
Why make it difficult for visitors to read what’s on your webpages? if you don’t make it easy they will be gone quicker than you can say goodbye.
Check your site for poor readability:
Fancy font styles that are too hard to read.
Crazy colors — like pastel blue lettering on bright green background.
Long chunky, verbose paragraphs.
Messed up formatting when trying to view from mobile devices.
Tiny font sizes that make people strain their eyes to read.
Reason #3. You’re not talking to me, personally.
When you’re trying to promote your business it’s easy to fall into the trap of making the copy all about you and how great you are. But, taking this “brochure style” approach doesn’t really grab the prospect’s attention because people just really care about themselves … hence, why people leave so many websites in 5 seconds.
Be sure your headlines, your sub headlines and home page copy really jump out talking about the specific problems and challenges your prospect struggles with.
So …
If you’re a chiropractor, what’s the downsides they’ve experienced having tried other chiropractors
If you’re a caterer, what do other caterers not do as well as you and your team?
If you’re a financial consultant for family run businesses what is unique about your process that solves their cash flow problems faster and easier?
Take a good look at the words on your website. Are they sweeping generalities? Are you using words and catchphrases that could literally describe businesses in many other industries?
Reason #2. I didn’t get a sense of trust and credibility.
Remember, before you can win their business you must first win their trust that you truly are the go to expert in your field.
Here’s some common some common mistakes that could be hurting your trust factor:
Lack of compelling client testimonials from real people (not just first name last initial.)
No blog to educate readers.
No picture and bio of you the owner.
No Picture and bio of your team if you have one.
No social proof.
When you have all these things people stay longer on your website and while doing so increases their trust.
Reason #1. I don’t see a reason to keep in touch.
It’s hard to expect a new visitor to become a customer after only spending 8 seconds on your website.
That’s like expecting someone to agree to marry you after just meeting you at a social for eight seconds.
This is why it’s so important to immediately grab your visitor’s attention with a relevant, irresistible free offer that they are willing and excited to give you their email address for.
TIP: signing up for your free newsletter is not a terribly effective free offer.
Instead, here is an example of a relevant, irresistible offer:
FREE DOWNLOAD:
QUESTION: Which of these 7 common website mistakes do you struggle with the most? Share with us in the comments below!
Are you looking for expert help right now to start generating more leads from your website? If so, I’d like to invite you to book a complimentary discovery coaching call with me here.
Making an impact on social media is not an easy task especially if you do not have any social media tips from renowned experts. If you think about it, an average user’s timeline/feed gets updated with thousands of posts in an hour. This number increases drastically when users search for popular keywords. Businesses of all sizes have adopted social media platforms to get noticed. If you’re looking to stand out on social media, here are 12 expert tips to help you out:
Social Media Tips #1: Get inspired from your competitors’ content.
Social media expert and founder of RazorSocial, Ian Cleary, reckons that getting inspiration from your competitors’ content is the key to resonating with your customers. Don’t copy, get inspired and think about different angles. Different unique angles also increases the potential virality of your content.
Social media marketing guru, Jeff Bullas, says that a brand has to be memorable in order to be noticed on social media. All the text and visual content has to be high quality. Constant promotion is also the key. This will help businesses grow their audience as people are more likely to share your content.
Social Media Tips #3: Don’t try to use all platforms
Founder of the Content Marketing Institute, Joe Pulizzi, says that small businesses need to have a clear social media channel. He urges brands to not make the mistake of trying to use as many platforms as possible. By focusing on 2-3 social media platforms, businesses can post better content and keep track of their results more accurately.
Social Media Tips #4: Re-purpose more popular social media posts into blogs.
Ted Rubin is a renowned social media strategist, speaker and author. By using popular social media posts for blog posts, the potential virality of your posts increases greatly and the interest among your audience is peaked.
Social Media Tips #5: Create high quality visual content
Neal Schaffer, a business social media expert, notes that pictures are a prominent part of social media. Brands that use high quality images to supplement their posts, capture their audience’s attention and turns them from random viewers into loyal readers.
Social Media Tips #6: Be consistent at posting your blogs.
Kissmetrics Founder and expert blogger, Neil Patel, has observed that brands do not need to have unique content but consistency is a must. Consistency will help you get more traffic and consequently more leads.
Jay Bear, marketing expert and author, recommends looking into “micro- opportunities.” These opportunities are very small time periods when your audience is most likely to be on social media. For example, if you’re target audience involves businessman then posting between average meeting times will get their attention. Small businesses that are B2B can use this system to get more views.
Social Media Tips #8: Hire content writers who are passionate about your field
Kim Garst, CEO of Boom Social, advises that those in charge of creating content have to be passionate about their field. When a marketer or writer is passionate, it shows in their work and becomes contagious. Users will like and share your content on their own channels and thus your content will reach more people.
Social Media Tips #9: Establish a consistent brand in all your social media images.
Canva founder, Zach Kitschke, says brands have to establish a visual style that is recognizable by their audience. To do this, consistent use of the same fonts, colors, logos etc are required. Every image doesn’t have to be the same but the tone has to remain consistent. When users start to recognize your visual style, they can spot your content more easily in a flood of social media updates.
Social Media Tips #10: Join the discussions on social media.
Mike Volpe, HubSpot CMO, recommends joining communities and taking part in discussions when brands first get on social media. Meaningful discussions will drive people to check out your account and consequently your website.
Social Media Tips #11: Share great advice on social media.
Adam Connell, an expert blogger, asks businesses to lend a helping hand without expecting any returns. By offering solutions to your users’ most common problems for free, you build trust and loyalty. Great advice will turn readers into potential customers.
Marko Saric, founder of HowToMakeMyBlog, advises that rather than randomly following people on social media, businesses should target peers and influential members in the industry to bring attention to their own blog/brand.
Start using these social media tips in your marketing plan today.
Be sure to grab my free printableMARKETING CHECKLIST for SERVICE-BASED BUSINESS OWNERS.
Even though most job descriptions for sales roles typically say that the candidate most be “self motivated”, as a business owner you’ve probably realized by now it is wishful thinking that merely hiring “self motivated” people will by itself, lead to creating high performing sales teams. Remember to keep your sales force motivated
Whether you have just one or two sales representatives or you have several dozen, either you as the business owner, or your sales manager (if you have one) need to play a vital role in keeping your sales force highly motivated.
Holding regular, effective sales meetings with your team is one way of keeping your team highly motivated. The key word here is “effective”. So, how does one make sure your sales meeting is effective?
This was the question asked recently but one of my email subscribers:
Q: “I have a team of 11 sales reps who have all been working for me for the past 5-10 yrs. I know I should be holding regular meetings with them, but I’m stuck on what to talk about each week.” ~ Bob Kelly from Austin, Texas
A: Bob, you are absolutely correct on having regular meetings with your team. Regular sales meetings is an essential key to grow your business. Every member of your team is expected to be better each day. I have come up a meeting structure for you which you can use to help motivate your sales force. I have used this same method myself in planning 1,000+ sales meetings I’ve delivered over the years.
Part I: KEEP YOU SALES FORCE MOTIVATED BY RECOGNITION
Whether you’re have a team of 11 people, 80 or just 4 sales people, it sets a positive tone and energy to kick off your sales meeting with sincere recognition. Find something to recognize in some or all of your meeting attendees. In addition to verbally recognizing people it’s important to add visuals. People like to see their names in writing. It can be as simple as writing congratulation messages on poster boards and plastering them throughout your conference room or as formal as having a new name engraved each week or month on a sales award plaque.
You can reinforce that recognition in bi-weekly emails to your sales team as well as including it in the printed version of your sales meeting agenda.
Recognition is especially addicting for sales people, so make sure you apply generously to your team. When you recognize positive behavior you attract more of that same positive behavior.
Avoid falling into the trap of negative thinking like — “why should I recognize them for just doing their job?” Because when you take that philosophy you will likely end up going many weeks without giving any recognition at all.
As a mother, anytime my husband or kids tell me I made a great dinner it not only makes me feel appreciated (even though it’s my job to feed them) it also motivates me to make an even better dinner the next meal.
Making your sales people feel appreciated goes a long way.
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Part II: KEEP YOUR SALES FORCE MOTIVATED BY INFORMATION
This is the housekeeping tid-bits — FYI kind of stuff you want everyone to be aware of and note in their calendars, project folders, etc.
This part of the sales meeting is for you to share things like:
Here are two new marketing resources now available to you.
Here are upcoming deadlines in our company…
Reminders… etc
Part III: KEEP YOUR SALES FORCE MOTIVATED BY INSTRUCTIONS
Never undermine the importance of ongoing training. Sometimes I hear from some grow your business that they don’t need to train their top sales people because they’ve been doing their jobs for 10 years, and they know what they’re doing.
I emphatically disagree!
That’s like expecting pro football players to skip the training camp and send them right into the kickoff game – bad idea! Spend 30-45 min during your weekly sales team meetings to help your people improve one specific skill they use and need, so they can better perform in their jobs. Trust me, even for your seasoned sales reps you’ll never run out of drill-for-skill content.
Part IV: KEEP YOUR SALES FORCE MOTIVATED BY INSPIRATION
It’s often more effective for your people to be inspired by the milestones achieved by their own colleagues than just being talked at the entire meeting by their boss.
You want to leverage the fact that sales attracts people who tend to have a competitive spirit, so inviting the week’s top performer to teach their peers is a powerful motivation for both for the person teaching and for their peers taking notes.
The person teaching ends up feeling like they now have a reputation they need to keep. And, their peers end up thinking — “hey, if they can do it, so can I” or “I can do even better than that”. By doing so people will see this as friendly competition, keeps your sales force motivated to hone their skills further.
So, invite one of your sales leaders to share for 5-15 minutes on how they achieved ______.
Examples:
How I got 85% of my leads to return my calls this week. How I got 200% more referrals this month. How I got all the decision makers to attend the 1st presentation meeting. How I have my best sales month ever.
This is the fifth and final part of your sales meeting. You, as their boss/sales manager make a big impact in keeping your sales force motivated or de-motivating your sales team. We see this happening all the time in sports. A football team won’t play their best if they’re constantly barked at by a dictatorship style coach or by a coach who appears hands off and indifferent.
They have to want to excel. Even the people who insisted they were self-motivated will still perform far better with a deliberate dose of motivational words from you each week as their leader keeps your sales force motivated.
I always like to see a weekly sales meeting end with a motivation piece with what I call a wind up talk.
People don’t really get passionate about the products and services you sell as a company (sorry to break that news to you!)
But, what they do get passionate about resonating with why you do what you do. They rally around what you believe as a company, but more importantly, that you believe in them.
People inherently, want to be great and do great things. Your motivational wind up talk should serve to helping them become the champions they have the potential to be.
As Vince Lombardi so famously said: “Treat them as champions, and they play like champions.”
As you plan out your motivational wind up talk think about:
Why this week is different? What is at stake this month?
What is the target you want them to stretch to reach and why should they care?
How can you help your people get out of their comfort zone?
What’s it all for this quarter?
What personal success skills do you want to help them develop? The power of perseverance, tenacity, positive expectation, resiliency, resourcefulness, etc.
Ok, so to summarize what you’re aiming to accomplish using this 5-part sales meeting formula:
Part 1: SALES FORCE MOTIVATED BY RECOGNITION = “I feel appreciated” [I work hard for me because I’m addicted to recognition]
Part 2: SALES FORCE MOTIVATED BY INFORMATION = “I feel focused and organized”
Part 3: SALES FORCE MOTIVATED BY INSPIRATION = (Peer proof) “If they can do it; I can do it too” [I work hard for my peers because I’m competitive]
Part 4 SALES FORCE MOTIVATED BYINSTRUCTION = “I feel equipped to succeed.”
Part 5 SALES FORCE MOTIVATED ENFORCEMENT = “I believe I can achieve higher” [I work hard for you because I know how much you care about my success]
In closing, if you need more guidance on creating high performing sales teams I invite you to book a complimentary discovery callwith me here:
QUESTION: How often do you run sales meetings with your team and how do you know it was effective? Please share your comments in the comment box below.
Everywhere you look, there are so many success stories of other small business owners who started from a simple idea to create a thriving, profitable business they love. Their big achievements can make entrepreneurship look so easy, but the truth is they all went through a series a learning curves and had to overcome real challenges along the way.
If you’re not where you want to be in your business, you’ve got to first decide you are going to do something different to change. After all, if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.
[Definition of insanity]: Doing the same thing while expecting a different outcome.
So, how do you get from where you are in your small business to where you want to be Here are 6 simple steps you can take action on today to get you closer to creating a thriving and profitable business you love. How to Get From Where You Are in Your Business to Where You Want to Be
1. Write down your dream outcome goal and your why.
If you want to transform your business you’re going to have to make some changes. But, change is hard because it requires you to get out of your comfort zone. It’s even harder to change if you aren’t super clear what you’re doing it for. That’s why it’s super important to paint a very specific picture of what your dream outcome goal looks like.
It’s not enough to say you want to grow your business to give your family a better life. Use the SMART goal method to help you be more specific. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timebound).
Here’s an excerpt from what I wrote down in 1998 when I was starting a new business and starting our family at the same time.
Dream Outcome Goal – SMART
WHY?
Get my new business to generate half a million a year in revenues within the first 3 years.
That was the number that would pay the bills, maintain cash flow for the business and pay off my mortgage to be debt free.
Do this while working part time (15-20 hours per week) by year 3.
Having grown up with parents who both worked overtime every week (because they had to) I desperately did not want to miss out on those special toddler years with my own kids.
With God’s help I was able to hit my two dream outcome goals by year 4. I know I would have definitely not hit these goals if I stated it in general terms like “I want to make more money and work less than I do now while making an impact in people’s lives”. Writing down specific target numbers I wanted to hit and what was at stake for me (my WHY) helped me stay laser focused.
2. Write down 3 things you know you should START doing and start doing them.
Pretty profound stuff isn’t it? I find with all of us, there are a lot of little basic common sense kind of stuff that we all know in the back of our minds that we should do. The first thing that keeps us from doing it is because we aren’t writing it down. If it’s something important enough to do, it’s important enough to write down. It reminds us to get it done. After all, knowing what to do never changes anything. We have to actually execute.
So, go ahead and write down all the easy stuff you know you should do. If you’re lacking energy it might be as basic as drink 64 oz of water every day, do a 30 min exercise routine every Tues-Thurs-Sat. and eat more fruits and veggies each day. If you know you should delegate more because you’re working way too many hours, then start delegating 5 hours of tasks off your plate or even just 1 to 2 hours to start.
3. Write down 3 things you know you should STOP doing and stop doing them.
If you’re not where you want to be in your business there’s something you’re doing wrong and you need to stop doing it. Because whatever you’re doing is not taking you where you want to be.
Here’s a short list of what some of my small business clients have shared with me they know they should stop doing:
Stop doing your own bookkeeping. Hire one.
Stop being a perfectionist. It’s making tasks take way more time than it needs to take.
Stop doing repetitive tasks. Start automating it.
Stop working “in” the business, so you can work “on” the business each day.
Stop saying yes to everything. Protect your time.
Stop worrying about what might happen. You can’t worry and achieve peak performance at the same time.
What about you? What are those things you already know you should stop doing? Write them down and commit to stop doing those things that are undermining your own success.
4. Write down the 1 biggest challenge you’ve been struggling with in your business for the longest time.
I can’t think of any great success story where the person did not have to overcome a big challenge. Get clear at identifying what is the biggest challenge that has been getting in the way of your business success.
5. Write down 3 things you tried to do to overcome that challenge.
Just doing this one exercise alone has helped many of my business coaching clients come up with better ways to overcome their challenge all on their own. There is power of clarity that comes from simply writing down and assessing what you’ve tried so far to overcome your biggest challenge.
6. Write down 3 people you could seek out who has the expertise you’re missing.
Mature people know what their expertise is in and what their expertise is not in. Immature people (or prideful people) try to figure everything out on their own.
Your area of expertise may be as a lawyer or as a healthcare practitioner or as a relationship coach, etc. If you know you are not yet an expert in marketing or sales or in scaling your business, what’s stopping you from seeking out those experts?
Somebody out there knows what you need to do to get you from where you are to where you want to be. What successful entrepreneurs do is when they don’t know how to solve something, they don’t waste months or years trying to figure it out on their own. They seek out others who have expertise in overcoming those challenges.
In closing, I want to encourage you to take action on these 6 steps today. I also invite you to take a small step of accountability and share your progress on my brand new Ask Yoon page. You can also post questions that come up for you during the process.
QUESTION: What is your greatest takeaway from this blog article? Please share your comments below.
If you find yourself feeling stretched, stressed and overwhelmed from so much to learn when it comes to marketing and growing your business, I wanted to encourage you that …
You’re not alone.
I’ve been a business owner for over 25 years now and I still have seasons when I get that feeling too. And hundreds of other successful people do too. In fact, I recently spoke to a CEO who signed up for my complimentary discovery coaching call. This guy is a seasoned entrepreneur. He has grown his business to 14 locations and he’s even authored 6 best selling books, so you might be surprised to know why he reached out to me. I asked him … “what is the #1 outcome goal you would like me to help you achieve?”
His reply: “I’m feeling so overwhelmed with all of our new initiatives. I need a coach to help me make the best decisions in how I will manage it all.”
Yes, it just goes to show you that even “successful” people aren’t immune to feeling overwhelmed either. So, if you too have been feeling the weight of overwhelm, my encouragement for you today is this:
#1. Accept it’s perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed in your business. #2. Know that you’re not alone. #3. Don’t try to battle through it alone. Reach out for help and support.
Whether you find a peer group of entrepreneurs for support or you looks for a professional coach, having a consistent person to hold you accountable can help you break out of your cycle of struggle faster. And …
#4. Identify what your 80:20 is in your business and then focus on it.
Simplify your to-do list down to what critical few things you do that make the biggest difference to your success. Often times, doing this step requires the help of having a coach and/or accountability group to challenge you. It’s a lot like watching the reality show on hoarders. If you have a hoarding problem it’s because it’s incredibly difficult for you to let go of things. You never see a hoarder be able to clear out their home all by themselves. As a business owner, we too can fall into a similar challenge of not being able to let go of certain tasks you feel has to get done by you … or even done at all. So, if you feel alone trying to manage the overwhelm in your business ….
What is keeping you from engaging a peer group, coach or friend to give you the help and support you need?
Share your comment below. I’d really love to know. I’m in your corner, Yoon ~
Social media expert and founder of RazorSocial, Ian Cleary, reckons that getting inspiration from your competitors’ content is the key to resonating with your customers. Don’t copy, get inspired and think about different angles. Different unique angles also increases the potential virality of your content.
Social media marketing guru, 
Founder of the Content Marketing Institute, Joe Pulizzi, says that small businesses need to have a clear social media channel. He urges brands to not make the mistake of trying to use as many platforms as possible. By focusing on 2-3 social media platforms, businesses can post better content and keep track of their results more accurately.
is a renowned social media strategist, speaker and author. By using popular social media posts for blog posts, the potential virality of your posts increases greatly and the interest among your audience is peaked.
Kissmetrics Founder and expert blogger, 
Jay Bear, marketing expert and author, recommends looking into “micro- opportunities.” These opportunities are very small time periods when your audience is most likely to be on social media. For example, if you’re target audience involves businessman then posting between average meeting times will get their attention. Small businesses that are B2B can use this system to get more views.
Canva founder, 
