Jamsworld the home for Jam727 Enterprises

In 2005, Newsweek printed a story entitled, “Blogs Will Change Your Business”. By 2008, the story still sits in cyberspace with an editorial note reminding us that even a media giant like Newsweek, “never saw MySpace coming” and they originally thought Twitter was simply a space on the internet cluttered by “small birds”. How social media for business will evolve into the next decade, the next year or even into the next month remains anyone’s guess.

So where are you? No matter how small or how large, if your business isn’t into developing and launching a socially based online campaign, then the next question is: “Why not?” Even the smallest retail business is subjected to online comments. For good or bad, your customers are talking about you. But what are you doing to promote your business in spite of lukewarm or God Forbid bad reviews?

Surveying a small number of local business owners, it’s easy to find many who just aren’t up with the times. Survey their customers and you’ll find that most people want to do business with an enterprise that is hip, green and online. The world is changing and if your business is still sitting in the dark ages you’re future success is up for grabs!

Gone are the days when people merely looked to networking sites as a resume posting vehicle. Small business and big business alike are dedicating a large chunk of their marketing strategy and budget into developing communication tools for the future. Today, they’re using popular networking platforms such as Twitter, MySpace and Facebook.

Maybe you have yet to even setup a website. Well, shame on you! In a retail enterprise, talk and gawk are the keys to success. If multi-million dollar businesses think online presence is important, then why have you hesitated to follow suit? You’re only killing your own business if you think that socialized networking, online marketing campaigns and enigmatic online advertising are only for geeks.

One complaint that many business owners have about social media is the amount of time that it takes to administer a well optimized social networking campaign. Fortunately, there are resources available that allow you to automate many of the most tedious of those chores. Two of those aids are GooBert and Miracle Traffic Bot, which we have reviewed elsewhere.

But what’s that you say? Your business is highly localized and can’t possibly be hurt or helped by a global presence such as LINKEDIN or Facebook? Silly you for thinking so small. The world has changed as much as advertising has changed. People located in Bali might well seek your business out the next time they visit San Francisco. That is, if they even know you exist. That local crowd, who visits your shop now and again, they’re LINKEDIN even if you’re not. They’ll think better of you if they know your business is approachable online as well as offline.

Nobody wants to have to work harder to get customers or retain the ones they have. But for you ‘Mom & Pop Ops’ out there who think that you can continue to grow without online intervention. Think again. Then click into the future by using social media for your business. Like most things, you can use it or lose it! But with social media one thing is for certain, if you don’t use it well, it will use you and ultimately that may not be such a ‘good thing’ after all.

An effective landing page is required in order to convert visitors into customers. These three tips will help you make a winning landing page. For example, if you’re selling a wholesale gift product through your sales copy, make sure it’s structured the right way.

Never structure your landing page copy as one large chunk of text, keep the paragraphs short and to the point. You don’t need a lot of copy to have a high-converting landing page, but you can use at least one subheading if needed.

Obviously, you’re offering an ethical bribe to people in exchange for their optin, so that is what your landing page copy needs to sell, basically. Even if your copy isn’t that long, use small paragraphs. The purpose of the short paragraph structure is based on a lot of testing many decades ago, and it has been well-proven to be more effective. This format will help with maintaining interest by the reader, and it’s easy for scanning. You really do not need to make your landing page copy long, but do make sure you follow proven copywriting practices. Of course if you make your copy clear and to the point, then the reader will have a greater chance of knowing what your offer is and can make a decision about it. Short, concise, and clear copy with strong benefit bullets is really all you need in the way of copy, but of course you can do other things on your landing page such as add video, etc. There are other factors affecting conversion rates, and it’s not all about your copy; but the copy does have a job to do.

If you’re not able to use video on your landing page and are using text copy instead, then it would be a good idea to have a welcome audio that plays when a visitor hits your page. This method allows you to provide a more personal form of greeting to your landing page. Take advantage of your recording to let visitors know what you have to offer and why they need to take you up on it. It’s your opportunity to convince them in a better way, which is why you should make use of it. Avoid being too long with the audio for a greater impact. This is an excellent opportunity to create curiosity and a sense of urgency among your visitors. For example, if the goal is to create subscribers for your list, you should ask your audience to sign up your list and let them know how it benefits them to do so. For instance, if you’re aiming to sell products in the wholesale decor niche then take time out double check your copy so that the sales don’t get affected.

Keep your content focused on your audience. Make sure your visitors understand what’s in it for them. To give away an ebook you simply need to show your audience what the ebook can do for them. Your sacrifice to write the ebook isn’t all that important to your audience. Use the word “you” in your landing page and limit or eliminate the word “I”. Focus your copy on the benefits of the offer and what your prospect will get out of it. Spend less time talking about yourself and more time focusing on your audience.

All in all, the above tips give use a clear understanding about what needs to be done in order to get effective results from your landing page. Remember, the more you apply such tips, the more you’ll learn. Working to improve your business is the best way to take your business from one level to the next. If you target audience is in the wholesale candles niche, make sure you’re focusing on them and not yourself.