How to make money with your website

You have a business and everyone told you that you need to have a website! You found a graphic designer (or did it yourself), you put the website out there and you have NO idea how to drive traffic so that you can actually get buyers for your service and/or product. You are NOT alone! Of course as YOUR PR DIVA, I am trained and have experience in helping you figure those things out, but I was grateful to have found and attend, a workshop sponsored by The Birmingham Public Library, Trudy Phillips Consulting, and Renasant Bank entitled, “How to Make Money with Your Website.” Facilitated by Andrea F. Walker, the workshop was geared toward small business owners and entrepreneurs that desire to not just have a presence on the world wide web, but to actually be able to capture and retain leads and turn those leads into lasting customers. Here are the take-a-ways from Andrea’s presentation: “To get to the top you have to start at the beginning.”

• Content: Understand that content is HUGE! The content on your website is what’s going to sell your business.

• You have to know your customer and know that people buy because they are looking for someone to solve their problems.

There are 4 questions that you need to ask yourself when creating content for your website:

1. Do you know your potential customer? Be able to describe a typical day in the life of your target customer so that you can understand what they are looking for and why

2. Define the challenge – What problem does your customer have?

3. What is your solution for the problem? What do you offer to solve the problem? Use simple language on your site to describe how you are the best person to solve the problem

4. What are the other alternatives that your customers have? How are they currently getting the problem solved and who are your competitors? How are you different from them?

During this brainstorming session you should also be thinking about the following:

• If I were my customer would I want to buy from me?

• Your website should evolve, don’t just put it up and leave it! Tweak it, refine it, understand your site analytics – take people on a journey with your site

• Position yourself to be an expert or thought leader in your field

• Your homepage content needs to be changing with some sort of content that is consistently evolving or interactive, i.e., free downloads, blog content, etc.

Remember that people buy based on emotion, draw them in with your mission and how you will help. Don’t forget that it’s not about YOU, its about your customer! Generating revenue for your site:

1. What do I know? What am I an expert in? What do I know that my customer does not? What do I want to teach them?

2. How can I create content out of that?

3. How can I package it?

4. How do I distribute it or what channels do I need to use based on where my target audience is? (ex. social media, blog, etc.)

Do not be afraid to test what you come up with and tweak whatever does or doesn’t work. Andrea did an excellent job giving an overview of what’s needed to take your business to the next level. It does begin with a well crafted website. If you need a professional to help you through the process, feel free to contact me. To find out more about the upcoming workshops in this series, go to the Birmingham Public Library website. To Your Success!