5 Easy Steps to Make Your Website Your #1 Employee (2 page)
Read 5 Easy Steps to Make Your Website Your #1 Employee Online
Authors: Steve Johnsen
Tags: #Business, #Marketing, #Web design
Dr. Ed Cole once said that “
Expectancy is the atmosphere for miracles.
” I felt the same expectancy when I was reading Steve Johnsen’s first draft of this book, because for the past few years I have had the privilege of having Steve as my coaching client, an attendee at my boot camps, my own webmaster for GaryBarnesInternational.com, and my friend.
A few years ago, when Steve was just starting his consulting business, he’d already had an impressive career generating millions of dollars in profits at a series of high-tech startups. Yet he was so shy about tooting his own horn to potential clients who could benefit from his expertise.
When Steve hired me as his business coach, I kept telling him that many people were selling “sizzle” to their clients; Steve really has the “steak,” and it would serve people to deliver that steak. More than anyone else I know, Steve is truly motivated by a desire to serve other people in any way he can. His integrity level is 150 on a scale from 1 to 100. And when clients hire Steve, he really delivers, and delivers big.
Steve is naturally brilliant at what he does. When other people are focused on the artwork, or the bells and whistles, or the PageRank, or getting on the first page of Google for some obscure term, Steve has laser focus on what really matters: implementing strategies that grow your business. He truly does transform your website into your #1 employee. That’s why I dubbed him, “The Website Income Strategist.”
Everyone I know that has met Steve or had the privilege of working with him is amazed by the simple clarity Steve brings to the seemingly complicated world of online marketing. For the last 2½ years, I have been asking Steve every month, “When are you going to get your book out?” Now, finally, it’s here. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have.
Gary Barnes, America’s Traction Coach
GaryBarnesInternational.com
5 Easy Steps
to Make Your
Website
Your
#1 Employee
If I want something I’ve never had…
I’ve got to be willing to do something I’ve never done.
– Joe Sabah
Having a website has become a prerequisite for doing business today.
However, for many small businesses, their investment in their website is not paying off
. T
hat’s because it’s simply not
good
enough to just “have a
web
presence” anymore.
As a marketing and technology consultant to small and large businesses, I would argue that you don’t need a website. What you actually need is a profitable business.
Your website is simply a tool to make your business profitable.
You don’t need a website.
What you actually need is a profitable business. Your website is simply a tool to make your business profitable.
So, if you invest in a website, the number one rule of thumb is to
make sure it’s a website that makes money for your business. And for your website to make money for your business, it must be working for you
—
and I mean literally
working
, as would your #1 employee.
What I found over the years is that many business owners have spent thousands of dollars on their websites. They’ve struggled and are hoping that somehow, magically
,
it’s going to make money for them, and
yet
too often it doesn’t do that.
You probably know someone who has
a great product or service
,
but
is currently
frustrated that no
one
is finding
them
online
. You may also know someone who has
spent
way too much
money
and time
on
their
website
,
and then been disappointed
that their
site
did not produce any
results
. Perhaps you have had similar experiences yourself.
Now imagine: H
ow
would it be if
your website
were
to actually become your #1 employee?
It is possible to build a website that actually grows your business
.
When someone starts a new business, on
e
of the first things they usually do is have a website built. Then, they sit back and wait for the website to do something. The majority of business owners that
we
meet are still waiting for that to happen. Although this is a common situation,
it doesn’t have to be that way!
It is possible to build a website that actually grows your business,
and
that actually pays you back, over and over again. In this book, I will show you exactly how to do that.
When we say that your website can be your
#1
employee
, we
are
talking about investing in your business
. Sometimes when a new business owner thinks about having employees, they think about
the
potential difficulties, management issues, or the costs. But experienced business owners know that
a good employee can be a tremendous asset. H
aving an employee should be a revenue generator for your business. There is a rule of thumb that any employee you hire should generate value equal to three times their salary
; f
or a sales
or marketing
employee that ratio should be much higher.
When I talk about your website being your
#1
employee, I’m talking about someone who is working for you 24
hours a day,
7
days a week
, 365 days a year, who never takes a vacation, never calls in sick, always has your best interest at heart, and is going to keep generating money for your business.
One who is
working hard for you to
automatically bring
you new connections, new business, new leads
,
new sales
and new revenue.
W
e are all very well aware that there
are
a lot of claims
out there related to
I
nternet marketing.
I’m just as skeptical as you are about many of those
claims. There are also a lot of gimmicks being advertised.
I get emails every day promising to either help me make money in my sleep
,
or
convincing me that
somebody is going to put my website on ten thousand directories and I’m instantly going to
be inundated with
traffic
.
What I’m going to share with you
in this book
are not gimmicks
or tricks, and they are not theories. I will only share with you tools and principles
that I’ve actually used in growing
multi-million dollar
businesses. The
se are
strategies
that have
actually worked for me
and for my clients, over and over again,
and I know that they will actually work for you.
Later in this book, we will
cover
s
ome technical things
that you need to know so that your website can actually become your
#1
employee. However, I
will
explain everything in
clear, simple language
that is understandable and easily digestible.
In addition to a website being a necessary branding tool, websites can also be the most cost-efficient marketing tool for launching and growing a business. When you consider all the different ways you can spend your marketing dollars, some methods (like TV ads) require a huge budget, and typically have a very low rate of return unless you have millions of dollars for a long-term campaign. Unless you are Coca-Cola or Budweiser, it’s hard to make that work for you. Other methods have a lower cost and a higher rate of return.
No Short Bridges
For most small businesses, spending money on advertising is like building a 50
-
foot bridge across a 200
-
foot river. Yes, the big companies can
advertise
successfully, but only because their budgets are much, much larger than a small business
’s
ad
vertising
budget.
Make sure that what you invest your money in is actually going to work to grow the business.
A website, and more generally, Internet-based technology, is the most cost-effective method of marketing most small businesses, and usually delivers the best return on your investment. Not only can you generate more leads or sales with your marketing dollars when you invest in a good website, but also, the leads that you generate and the customers you bring in are more qualified. They have already stepped up and identified themselves as being very interested in your product or service.
In order to capitalize on this fact, the company or individual you entrust with the job of building your website must know
how
to build you a website that, first and foremost, makes your business money.
The challenges for small business owners are numerous, and one of the biggest headaches is not knowing where to turn when you need help building, evolving, or maintaining a business website. The industry serving small business web and technology needs is overflowing with information (and a lot of misinformation), competing messages, and lofty promises, and it’s literally brimming with thousands of people who claim they can build a website. In the face of this madness, it’s easy to forget to focus on
why you need a website in the first place
. A website is a marketing tool that helps you build a profitable business; it is a marketing tool with a purpose.
Many small business owners have been burned—numerous times, in some cases. Some have invested tens of thousands of dollars in websites that look pretty, but do nothing for sales. Some have invested very little, and ended up with a website that in no way captures the essence of the business and brand. They have paid hundreds of dollars, but in the end have accomplished nothing. Still others have ended up with a website that turns away prospective customers because it does not load or function properly. In essence, these people got less than nothing.
Another issue business owners face is that they don’t know what they should expect to spend. Prices for building websites range from zero to the millions. On top of that, once a price point is set, they don’t understand what they should expect from the website, leaving them with no way to measure their return on investment. And, what about that dreaded term “search engine optimization,” or “SEO”? Most business owners know they need it, but are frustrated because they have not had its attributes and value actually explained. As a result, more than 70% of businesses are doing absolutely nothing to ensure their websites are being found….In other words, they are ignoring the need, in many cases, for a strong SEO strategy. No wonder so many websites are actually not getting found out in the wide, wide world of the web.
All of this has led business owners to frustration, disappointment, and lost revenue, and this is a major reason why four out of five new businesses ventures fail. It is time for small business owners to rise up and take action, and finally have a website that actually helps them grow their business.
The
only reason for having a business website is to make your business money
.
