Anatomy of a Squeeze Page

Your database is gold and one of the most important things you can do when you start an online business is capture names of visitors that come to your site. That is where a squeeze page can become invaluable. Having an auto responder and being able to market to that person, keeping your company/business name in front of them,letting them know when you have specials (etc.) is essential.

That is where a squeeze page comes in – it should be an integral part of you online business. It’s a technique that works to build your ‘op-in’ list.

A squeeze page is really a 'trading' page - you are trading something of value to your visitor and they in turn give you information about themselves.

No matter how great your site is people get distracted and your visitor can be gone before you know it. Not only that, if they become distracted they may not remember what site they were on or why they had navigated there in the first place. This is why using a squeeze page and getting permission to follow up with your visitors can be so powerful. Caution: Make sure and reassure you visitor you will not be selling, trading or other wise using their information for anything other than what they are signing up for… Anatomy of a Squeeze Page Layout:

Keep the layout simple and to the point.

Capture only the minimum amount of information needed for the follow up - name; email address is all you really need. Asking for state, country or phone should only be done if it is important to the follow up.

People are often reluctant to give up a phone number - especially on the first contact. They fear being put on lists or being called at all hours of the day or night.

It is important the visitor understand his/her information will be kept confidential. Remember that you can, and should, acquire more information as you develop the relationship between you and your customer.

Make a template with your HTML editor, which you can use over again just by making minor changes to the information, depending on your present offer.

Hire a designer to build a professional template squeeze page for you. This is especially important if you are not technically savvy. The cost of a good squeeze page is an excellent investment and well worth the money. Graphics & Content:

Graphics can project the image you want to have.

Do you want to display only the product?

Do you want to display the product and your logo for branding purposes?

Would you like to put your picture a short bio that will lend credibility to your offer?

You need a quality offer to entice the visitor to hand over her/his information. Preferably, this will be something of a free nature and should be something that solves a problem for the visitor.

Free reports are great items for squeeze pages. And these items need not be your product but can be products for which you are an affiliate.

Success is Not an Accident

I am currently working with a client who I know is going to be successful. They have the passion and excitement but more than that, they have done the home work that should be involved with building a strong foundation for their business.

Have you really set up a sound foundation for your business? It is so much easier to build a business right the first time than to try and save a company that is floundering. The mistakes I see individuals make when starting an online business would surprise you. An amazing amount of people really do not take the time to research competitors, find out who their target market is or even figure out what they will need in order to market their business/services once they have website is developed.

In our society, we (me included) want it all right now. We don't want to have to wait… We want instantaneous wealth, success, fame that is why it is so easy for those unethical few to bilk people/businesses out of billions of dollars a year…

What have I learned being in business for over a decade? There are no short cuts…

To be successful in any endeavor you must first do what it takes to build a strong foundation, this includes:

• Researching
• Putting together a business plan
• Figuring out and setting aside a marketing budget
• Figuring out your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
• Learning that you don't cut corners on the important stuff.

Put together a blueprint for your success – it takes time to be able to hammer these things out. It is so crucial it literally can make a different on whether your company will live or die.

Did you know that 99% of these overnight success stories are simply not.

These “lucky few” have been dreaming, planning, and structuring this “over night success” for sometime in some cases for years…

Don't be fooled – Success is not an accident, and it is not a fluke… When you plan well and build a strong foundation. Success is up to you.

Pamela Jacob is the owner of Artista Design. Being in business for well over a decade she delights in helping others achieve the success that she has enjoyed. For a free consultation please email her at Pamela@artistadesign.com

Why I Do What I Do

Initially I envisioned this blog to be a series of articles about what you need to design an attractive website, market it, optimize it etc. It has become so much more than that. A client or potential client will email me and ask me a question, or I read something that sparks a view/reaction in my mind and I write about it. This information is something that is invaluable to you my reader – this type of pertinent information you may not be able to find so easily in a structured article. This type of information gives you the nuances that make a business successful… I am telling you this because so many times people don't start blogs because they genuinely assume they have nothing to say – well if you have nothing to say then I suggest you don't even start your business until you understand it fully. And once you understand your product/service then you will have tons to say on the matter. Blog's are powerful connections for your business. In developing this blog I truly found out why blogs are so powerful when promoting business. It gives you credibility – it allows people to see you are who you say you are. It is true that you need more than a blog to be successful. You need to ping your blog – you need to submit to blog directories, and most of all you need to know what you are blogging about!! Search engines love blogs because it gives them new fresh material all the time and that is so important when trying to stay on the top of search engine listings. As I always say there is so much to know and then so much more… That is the one thing, I love about my business – I am here to help businesses detangle and understand what they need to have a successful online business… Helping clients and watching them grow gives me so much satisfaction – it is why I do what I do.. Pamela Jacob

Do You Want Lasting Success

After talking to a prospective client the other day – a thought came into my head that I hadn't even though of in years.

“People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

This is the bare bones truth… As a young person one of my first jobs was in sales. I was quite shy and really hated the hard sale or the pushy image sales people could give off.

Sales have had a bad reputation – there is still a misconception that sales people are insincere and manipulative (anything for a sale). Don't get me wrong these people are out there, and they give everyone a bad name.

I am a strong believer in what goes around comes around, this type of person seldom becomes a super star, they quickly fade – and dye out, or go out with a bang/bad reputation and what have they got left??

Being ethical and honest in your business is the only way to truly love what you do - (and we are all in sales don't kid yourselves).

The 3 secrets to having a successful business, as well as being an amazing sells/marketing person are:

• Believe in your product/service.
• Believe in yourself,
• Believe in what YOU CAN DO FOR OTHERS…

If you cannot say yes to all three of these things then you must find a different career path, or a different product to sell/promote because I promise you will never be successful...

Never

And always remember this simple truth..

“People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care!”

For help in all your online needs contact me pamela@artistadesign.com

Visit my website at Artista Design

Take a Deep Breath

Everyday when I go to my email I am bombarded with fantastic offers, once in a lifetime report's and never to be offered again information … I myself am guilty of putting time limits on offers and sending them out – real genuine offers. Offers that shouldn't be passed up… But even I must admit I have gotten to the point where I don't want to open 99% of my email… If it is a client or an adviser that I am truly following great if not it goes right into the trash… Are you on information overload? Is your day spent scouring zillions of emails and trying to find nuggets of gold in them their hills? How many of you find that as you are browsing through your email looking at the great offers – reading (must have) information your day is gone, and you really have not accomplished anything with your business? What are you really after? I assume in reality it is to have a successful business, retain previous customers and honestly attract new clients. I believe this is true no matter what your business is. How long has it been since you have really looked at your business, analyzed it and decided what you really need and where you want to go? How many of you have gotten so caught up in learning the latest and greatest (make 2 zillion dollars this month) thing to come around the pike that you failed to diligently maintain the business you have, you have been chasing the elusive secret that will bring you unprecedented wealth and fortune? And all the while your current business is slipping through your fingers? Pulling it together and settling down with the truth can be a sobering task… Making sure you stick with what is working while learning what will grow you business can really be a challenge. As someone who has to constantly learn, research and study all the newest and greatest marketing and development techniques (and has a firm grasp on what it takes), even I get to the point I just feel frazzled and fragmented with all the information floating in my head… I too have to remind myself to do the following… Take a step back, take a deep breath and don’t forget your core business practices, extraordinary customer service and the thing you have done that provided you the great customers you have now. Find a some really good resources and successful business people you know are ethical and will tell you the undisputed truth, not fill you full of hype and false promises. Follow them and what they have to teach you… Most of all constantly remember your core values, use your gut instincts and get out there and give it all you've got… Pamela Jacob Artista Design

I Came Out Victorious!!

Let me tell you a little tale that may have you changing your mind about using PayPal… Years ago before I began using PayPal I would hear intense horror stories about how they would seize your money and run… Clear out your bank account and disappear… Now I had not been able to verify any of this , but it did scare me – I was almost afraid to even try it… Then I opted to take the plunge – after all I didn't have to pay monthly fees just a small percentage when people paid me on-line (the same with any merchant transaction) and the shopping cart was free, what did I have to lose?? With most other merchant account you have to pay for monthly processing, the initial gateway and various other sundry items… With Paypal it was effective and didn't cost me anything up front, great for those of you just starting out… I did open up a savings account just to be on the safe side, one that had no other money in it… Just in case my assets were frozen (horror of all horrors)… Years later I still have had no problems, Paypal sends me the pertinent information when a business transaction has taken place, I go in and transfer the money into my account or ask for a check… It has been a wonderful tool… But the best reason for using them came to light just the other day when I had an unresolved problem getting information I had purchased online… I am sure you have all had a zillion letter's about buying this information for $7.00 buy this for .99 today only and on and on… I decided to buy some list building information for the small fee of $1.97 I didn't know the character of the person who had initially sent it to me so I was taking a gamble… But what is $1.97?? I paid for this e-report using PayPal… I didn't get the info… I even emailed the business/person who sent me the original sales letter and no feedback.. I received nothing, I thought to myself it's not a big deal just move on than the though struck me … How bad this makes us all look! How many of us do promote products on line and this gives everyone a bad name… Maybe this was a con how many $1.97 did they collect, just think about it, if 1000 individuals bought the e-report for $1.97 that is close to $2000 dollars!! I was not going to tarnish the reputations of all of us who do sell e –products so I went in to fight the good fight! I came out victorious!! PayPal has a system that will help you get what you have paid for. Once you buy a product, if you are not satisfied you can log into your PayPal account, click on the electronic merchant number (on your PayPal Receipt) and lodge a complaint… That is just what I did, I am not exaggerating when I say I heard back from them within 10 min! The dispute was resolved within 24 hours… The funny part is they asked me once the dispute was settled to please close this case and say that you are satisfied… They wrote back to me twice within 20 min… Obviously they didn't want to be dropped by PayPal, that is the power of having PayPal in your corner. Pretty powerful stuff if you ask me!!

Chicken or Beef

Not to sound like a broken record... But here it goes! Get a grip everyone… I am still hearing the same old stuff--- but so and so said content is the most important don't worry about the look of the site so much… It is content that sells. Once again may I remind everyone that if visitors are not impressed with the presentation of the content what makes you believe that a person will stay around and read the content??? If a casual visitor to your site, loves the presentation (look) of the website then reads what you have to offer – and gets nothing except fluff or the same old thing he/she gets everywhere what makes you think they will stay at your site and look further??? Do you like Chicken or Beef? Chinese, Mexican or American Quisine? You get my drift – why not just have a fantastic looking site with great content…. Then you will get the best of both worlds people who love visuals, people who are driven by content and those that know the value of both!!

Are You Serious About Success?

I was recently contacted by a woman who took me up on my offer (free website critique). She first sent me an e-mail and asked if we could talk, I then e-mailed her back with a time. 

She called me the minute I said I would contact her. You may be thinking so what? 

You may be amazed at what I am about to tell you, but there are so many people who claim to want to have a successful online business, or they say they

really, really want to do what it takes to make it to the top. 

Even so, they don't put the action behind the words… 

This woman showed she is serious about doing what it takes. 

In my many years of experience, I have had many people who have e-mailed me or sent me a project request, when I answered them they didn't even bother to reply – or they did not send me their telephone number because they were too busy to talk and say, “just send it to me in writing." 

This tells me one of two things, 

1. They are not serious about building a successful business. 

2. They don't respect my time - and want something for nothing.

In ether situation – it is not the atmosphere in which I will work… and as a professional – neither should you. 

If you are like me, you have very little time so every second counts. I only want to do business with like-minded people – those people who are willing to put in the work to do what it takes and those businesses that respect my professional expertise. 

Only 3% of people ever reach their goals in life – and get to where they want to go. The reason the other 97% don't is because they are not willing to do what it takes… 

Those that are successful are:

• Have a Plan
• Persistent
• Take action
• Do what it takes. 
• When they make mistakes, they pick themselves up, brush themselves off, learn from it and tread forward. 

Winston Churchill said "never, never, never give up." He was right...

Pamela Jacob Artista Design

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