27. Want to Know What’s Wrong With Your Website
What is it?
It’s not all about you.
No really.
It’s not.
That may come as a surprise, but your website exists for one thing and one thing only. And that is: to get leads (prospective clients), to enter into a relationship with you so that you can educate them and sell them something over time.
This applies whether you are a bricks and mortar salon with services and products, or a mobile technician, or even if you are just selling products online.
Yes, your business should have a website, but no, you don’t have to have a 10-page, all-singing, all-dancing confection of how amazing you are.
The most important thing on your website is your visitor.
It’s not to show how good your ‘branding’ is, or how flash your salon looks, or how avant-garde your hairstyles are, and it certainly isn’t a photo album with a rotating gallery.
Only you and your mother care about your ‘images’, and even she is probably pretending.
Your website is not all about you. Your website is all about your prospect’s problem and it tells them how you can provide the solution to it in exchange for their details. In fact it goes deeper than that and is all about the outcome your solution gives them. Have a think about that, because that really qualifies the fact your website should not be all about you.
And how do you do this you ask?
Well the easiest way is to talk to the client’s problems (remember you know your client inside and out now that you have an Ideal Client Avatar), and get them to opt in to an email sequence, or a free cheat sheet, or a how-to video, so you have their details and can start a relationship with them.
This way you can establish trust and get them into your salon when they are comfortable with making that decision to do so.
It doesn’t have to be a free cheat sheet or email sequence either, although these work particularly well and are easy to do.
You could have a landing page (a page not published on your website for general view, that your prospect ‘lands’ on when you advertise it) where you give away:
- A book
- A CD or DVD
- Access to an online video or some audio
- A sample of a product
- A tips booklet
- A free consultation
- A free service
- Webinars and teleseminars
- A live event
- Some other free information resource, such as a how-to guide
- A workshop or free training session
And apart from a ‘privacy page’ and an ‘about’ page, that’s about all you need to start getting leads into your ‘funnel’.
“But what about if I have a zillion products and a zillion services that I want to sell QBofE?”
Well you still need to start with a relationship. You might have a small amount of clients buying straight off your webpage; remember the 80/20 rule. 80% of your customers will buy when they are ready, and that is likely not to be the 8 seconds of time they have glanced at your website and then moved on to a video of cute goats bouncing on a trampoline.
And the beauty of the website is you can have landing pages that can’t be seen on your website but you can drive, highly qualified leads to through specific and targeted advertising.
That way, if someone is looking for highlights they hit just your highlight landing page, if someone is looking for salt scrub, they hit your salt scrub landing page. What they don’t do is hit your home page that is screaming with a million different pictures and services and prices and “Hi, and welcome to our website. We’ve been in business for over 10 years and we pride ourselves in exceptional customer service…”
Sound familiar?
The cruel, hard fact is no one cares about you or how long you have been in business.
They just care about their problem and are looking for a solution.
Truth.
If you do nothing else, at the very least take out “I, We and Our” and rewrite your website with “You and Your”.
And let me know what happens.
Warmly,
Kat
P.S. So I have Jaydyn at home and the world goes a little bit crazy. I live in a big city but it is a very small expat community and the number one form of currency is gossip.
If you know something before anyone else, you have a higher status and the bragging rights to share that information with as much drama as you can.
It’s pathetic and something I don’t get involved in, but it’s the domain of a population that is bored, restricted by draconian laws, and well, bored.
So the rumour mill goes into overdrive and there is some nasty gossip going around about Jaydyn, the employer that is not happy that he missed the flight, and even my name is mentioned in a few meetings with veiled threats.
Fun times.
But as I am not one to care about other people’s opinions, I stand by my decision to abduct my personal trainer, which is no ones business but my own.
And then a friend of mine makes a comment which puts it all into perspective.
P.P.S. As a Good Salon Guide Member I am offering a FREE Breakthrough Call to you.
It’s a 1 hour, no-cost, no-obligation call to talk about any problems you’re having with your salon business, where you’re at now, where you want to be, and I’ll give you a plan you can put in place to get you there.
Salon owners who have had a call with me have had staffing issues solved, how to get more clients in the door, how to charge more for their work without losing clients, and how to get more consistent re-bookings. And these are just a few of the things.
If you’re a bit stuck, overwhelmed or just want an objective pair of eyes on your business book in a time that’s suitable to you.
All you have to do is click on this link: www.growyoursalonfast.com/start and choose the time directly from my calendar.