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This is a list of website conversion tools that I use and recommend to my clients so that they can add "bells and whistles" quickly, easily, and inexpensively.

If you're a website owner who's unhappy with the business your Internet presence is generating, I wouldn't be surprised if you think your copy is the culprit, too. A lot of people think that if there's a problem with conversion that the sales copy must be at fault.

This is WRONG THINKING...and potentially fatal to your website's success.

The world's most brilliant sales letter for the world's most incredible product won't necessarily generate the through-the-roof results you might expect. The truth is that turning a casual site visitor into a "here's my credit card take whatever you want" buyer takes MUCH MORE than just effective copywriting.

Converting prospects into clients and customers takes more than a super headline... More than a list of "what's in it for you"... More than an ironclad guarantee and more than a page of testimonials from celebrities and authorities.

This isn't a war that will be won with words. You need more...much more.

If you think of your website as a high-powered sports car, your sales letter is the engine. But as any raceron the NASCAR circuit will tell you, without the right fuel and other essential components, an engine can't run smoothly and a car will never be first to the checkered flag.

I don't care if you have the most powerful "engine" in the world...the greatest sales letter ever written. If you're not taking advantage of technology and leveraging human psychology in your sales and marketing efforts, you're simply out of the race.

I usually wear my copywriter's "hat" when I do the rant and load you up with lots of ideas for creating great sales messages. The how's and why's...the do's and don'ts... the nuts and bolts.

But this time around, I don't want to focus on the engine. Instead, we're going to make a "pit stop" to look under the hood of "killer" websites and talk about everything that's working to power their success.

Conversion Secret #1 - Less Can Be More (Why the QUALITY of Your Traffic is More Important than the Quantity)

The number of people that visit your website is meaningless if they don't buy anything when they're there. You can have ten thousand peoplehitting your site a month, but if they're looking for camping equipment and you're selling baby strollers, you're not going to convert a single visitor.

And if you're paying per click, this will kill you. Your marketing dollars are going up in smoke.

On the other hand, you can have less traffic, but if they're targeted, you'll have a very high conversion rate. Ifyour baby stroller site has a banner ad at a baby formula store, chances are the people who chick through will be more likely to buy from you.

Here's something you MUST keep in mind: "more likely to buy" doesn't mean that they will buy. That's why tracking your traffic is so important. You have to know exactly where your traffic is coming from.

Are they from Per-Pay-Click? Are they from affiliates? Are they from offline marketing? What percentage is from what promotion? Unless you know the answers, you can't build on your success.

You can't improve something you can't measure." W. Edwards Deming, management expert.

A steady flow of QUALITY traffic and information about where it comes from will affect your conversion rate just as much as the quality of your sales message.

Conversion Secret #2 - Don't Let A Good Answer Get away (Exit Poll)

No one expects a 100% conversion rate, of course. You may dream about it, but, depending on what you're selling, if you're getting a 2-3% conversion, that's pretty damn good.

Okay, you're not converting 97% of the people that come to your site... But does that mean that their visit has to go into the "lost cause" column? No way!

If you paid to have those people visit, you can't just let them get away! You need to get some kind of return on your investment. Why not do an exit pop-up survey, asking them why they're not buying?

Want to really get a visitor's attention. Use an audio pop-up. When people leave your site you can have a pop-up with an audio portion like this:

"Wait, before you go, could you please help me out? I'm not trying to sell you anything, I just need some information. Could you tell me the single biggest reason that you're not giving us a try today? What's the ONE reason that's stopping you from purchasing (my product name)? Just fill out the box below and click on the submit button. Your opinion matters to me..."

Boom! You've just created your own "consumer feedback forum" and you haven't spent a penny on some high-priced focus groups. Once you get a bunchof responses to your exit poll, you'll be able to identify patterns in what people say. Use what you learn to make the changes that you know for certain will bump up your conversion rate.

Success and failure shouldn't be based on guesswork or assumptions. It doesn't matter what you think is the reason people aren't buying. It doesn't matter what I think is the reason people aren't buying.

The only thing that matters is what your customers think...that's the "pulse" of the marketplace and the lifeblood of your future business. And with an exit survey, your customers will tell you what you need to do in order to convince them to buy your product!

People consider me a marketing wizard because I'm so good at market research. Well, I may be a "wizard," but I'm not a genius, and I certainly didn't earn my Ph.D in marketing. That's because you don't have to be a marketing genius to get your finger on the pulse of your industry.

Here's the secret: I am not the marketing wizard. You're not the marketing wizard. Your CUSTOMER is the marketing wizard.

All you have to do to learn the "mysteries" of more sales is ASK your customers... And make sure you ask the people who decided not to be your customers, too.

Just ask and they'll tell you. Then take what you've learned, incorporate it into your sales message, and watch the "no sales" turn into "sales" so fast that you'll get a speeding ticket for all that fast-moving, fast-buying traffic!

Conversion Secret #3 - Take a Tip from the Tortoise (slow and steady wins the race)

Far too many Internet marketers try to close the sale with one step. Are you one of them?

Do you run an ad in some ezines, post a couple of Pay-Per-Click ads, then sit back, telax and wait to enjoy "the show"? Do you assume that people will notice the ad, read the ad, get excited by the ad, go to your site, read your sales pitch, pull outtheir credit cards and buy from you?

Do you expect to accomplish all that with ONE STEP? Give me a break. What are you thinking?

That's like you're trying to have sex on the first date.

You might get away with it. (You might get some sales and be profitable). But chances are, without a little coaxing from you at every step in the process, you'll be going home alone.

Take it slow, will ya?

Show some class. Have some manners. Get to know each other. Share some stories. Make a connection. Develop a relationship before you try to close the "deal". People buy from people they trust. So you'll make a lot more sales if you take the time to develop a solid relationship.

How do you convince website visitors that you're one of the "whit hats"? Start building that relationship. One way is by giving more than you get.

Give them a free report. Give them a free mini-course. Give them a free ebook. Give them a free chapter. (Are you getting the idea that "free" may be the most important word in relationship-building on the Internet?)

Bribe them and get them to give you their name and email so that you can follow up with them using an autoresponder. And don't forget to make it simple.

One easy-to-use option is a hover ad that drops down on your visitor's screen when they visit your site, inviting them to "opt-in" to your free offer. Why a hover ad? Testing shows hover ad gets more attention than traditional pop-ups.

A more advanced way...and to some a less "savory," but extremely effective way...to capture contact information is to make your home page an opt-in request.

Basically, a visitor can't get to the rest of your site without providing contact information. You qualify them before you let them read your sales pitch! That's pretty brilliant if you ask me!

The opt-in doesn't have to be fancy. And it definitely shouldn't be very long. Just a killer headline and some equally killer benefits. That'll do it.

Don't blow it! When you follow up with them, you don't just want to pitch them. You want to deliver value in your autoresponder messages. Educate them. Teach them something. Then just have a little plug at the end.

Remember I said that people buy from people they trust. Ifyou're constantly selling things, then you're a salesperson...and your motives are immediately suspect.

But if you're constantly giving things away, sharing ideas, giving more than you're getting, you're a valuable resource...a good friend...atrusted advisor. (There's the secret password -- trust!)

And the beauty is...what you give away doesn't have to cost you a penny.

Let's say you're selling an ebook, you can actually take the first 3 chapters of your ebook and turn them into a series of autoresponder messages. This is a great way to give them a taste of what you're selling and to prove that you're the "real deal."

Conversion Secret #4 - Hear Ye, Hear Ye (Audio on the Internet)

When I talk about copywriting, I often talk about how important it is to engage the reader's senses. Make them see with word pictures... Make them feel with hot-button language. The more senses that are involved, the more likely it is that your prospect will be sold.

Using audio on your site is a sense-sation.

With audio, you appeal to a completely different sense than the average site. The web is full of visual appeal, but with audio, you suddenly connect with a visitors ears with a whole new component -- a verbal component.

Your spoken words will strike an emotional chord with visitors and connects on a "human" level in an otherwise electronic world.

And here's something that every website needs: excitement. Because it's rare, audio is unusual and attention-getting. It's brand new, instead of the "same old," same old."

(This won't be true forever, of course, but for now, you can take advantage of audio's scarcity.)

Don't let your fear of the unknown or a fear of failure holdyou back. You don't have to be a techie to utilize and implement these technologies. If you've got the will, I'll show you the way:

Okay, now my secrets are your secrets. The same tricks and techniques that I've used to achieve astronomical traffic conversion levels are now at your disposal.

They've been tested and refined and re-tested. They've worked for me...and they've worked for my clients (who, by the way, paid me a fortune to implement them on their behalf).

I know they'll work for you. Let me know when they do. I'd like to add your success story to an upcoming issue of the Rant.

Stay Lok-ed and loaded for success.