Marketing Runs Deep- Episode 3

Hey, everybody.

This is Bryan Hatch, CEO and founder of AutomateBIG and today I want to jump into our weekly training and talk about a subject that comes up often in conversation. It seems like every time I'm talking to somebody about how I do marketing for businesses, they always say the same thing, "Oh Bryan, I need to redo my website." I think that is such a bunch of hogwash and I want to make sure we can jump into how that makes a difference for you and your business.

Now, I'm not joking. Countless business owners have talked to me about the subject and I feel like there are three reasons why a website is important, but they're not the reasons you think that it's important. I'm going to go backwards in order from three to one. The third reason why people come to your website is to find out if you are a fly by night character. Do you actually have a business? Have you been in business for a while? They want to verify that you are somebody, that you're not going to just take their money and jet. And a website serves that purpose. It's actually a phenomenal way to instill confidence in people that, "I am really legitimate." So that's the third reason.

The second reason why people come and want to check out your website is because they want to verify why you do what you do, how you do what you do, and how it's going to benefit them. I've talked about this in other videos, but it's very important that you think about what you do to benefit your customer. If you think about that and put that up on your website, in your messaging, that's part of what I'm talking about in bullet point number two here. Your messaging has to be on par so people understand why you do what you do and how it benefits them. So that's a very critical part of what your website should be doing for people.

The very first reason why people come to your website or why you should have a website, is to get people to take action. I'm serious, I can't even count how many websites that I've looked at, that do that poorly. You see, on most websites there are about us, and how this, what we do here, services , and many tabs across the top with the top left being where their logo is up here. They've got all this stuff, and they've got pages of words and messaging. Think of the last time you went to a website to check it out for something you were interested in buying, whether it's a product or service, you were going to check out their website. Okay? How quickly did you scroll through the homepage? Did it take you longer than 30 seconds to get through the whole thing? Probably not. People skim and check out what's going on and what's apparent to them on the page, and if you can't communicate that in bullet points in big fashion, you're in a world of hurt. Okay?

So websites are typically very squirrel syndrome. is that squirrel, they look at things and that's how people interact with websites because that's how websites have been built for a long time now. So you've got to realize that your website's usually confusing for people. And the other thing that people believe, and I don't know why or how people get this in their heads, is they believe that people are going to interact with their website on a daily basis. I've worked with even big business owners that feel like people are going to come to my website every day.

Now, some people will come to your website because of what you're doing or your ads or your traffic, sure. Organically look you up, yes. Are there people that are going to be looking, a big business, small business, is there a possibility for that? For sure. But if you believe that the people that want to buy what you have to sell or they're interested in the industry that you're in, if you think they're going to come to your website and then tomorrow think, "Oh, what changed?", they're not. The only person that comes to your website every day is you or your team. That's how it is. So if you live in this world that you feel like your website is what people are going to come back to, some people believe that their website is going to be like the Facebook of their own business or industry, that's just not true.

Now, is that negating the fact that you should have content and updates often like a blog or posts or social media that hooks in your website? Sure. Those are great elements to keep your website feeling alive. People want to make sure that you're really a business, and in business, not just a business that was in business for one month and no longer in business, so there are purposes to that. But if you believe that you're building a Facebook on your website, you're wrong. People are going to go to Facebook for those things. They're not going to come to you for that. And so make sure your website is tailored that way.

Now, the way that we're going to cut this down into what you need to do, and I've talked about the three bullet points here, but let's focus on number one, getting people to take action. You need to have a clear cut, and if I can spur away from this for just a second, look at service providers. I'm talking like HVC companies, carpet cleaners, there's a lot of companies out there that what they do is create a really simple website, "Here's my phone number and I can get you a quote." I'm not saying that you need to take that as your best example, but I'm saying at the foundational core of getting people to take action, those websites have it right. To say, "Here's my phone number, I can give you a quote. This is what we do, this is why we do it." Those kind of websites convert better. And so most people that are building traffic to their websites, they lose it because people come and they leave. If you can focus on getting people to take action, you will win.

Now, your website needs to represent your brand and I'm not recommending in this video that you put up some crap website that you're like, "I don't really care." No, your website reflects who you are and how you do things, but it doesn't need to be complicated. That's what I'm trying to get across here. Simple, period. Wins, period. Simple, simplicity, wins. If you can communicate a message simply to people and get them to take action, you win. Now on your website you should have a button that gets people to opt in or buy something, to get involved in something on a weekly basis or even link them to a Facebook group. There are ways you can get people to interact so that they're actually coming to you, but you are not your website. Does that make sense? Your business is bigger and more important than a website. A website is just a piece of what you are.

When you look at it that way and you think, "Okay, I need to drive people to take action on my website, which means they need to opt in, give me your name and email, ask for quotes, get something in return for some value," you need to make sure that you're helping people on the path as they take action. That comes from multiple things like headlines, what you say, why you say it, and how you say it. Please note, your website has to talk to individual audiences. You need to talk to people that you are actually serving, not just a general capacity of everybody in the world. Talk to the people you serve and you'll get ahead. At a core bare minimum guys, you have to get people to take action on your website. If your website does anything else, strip it down, make it two pages, make it a blog and your homepage, and that's it. Make sure everybody is driving to a specific action and you will win.

I know that your website can get a face lift, but it's not like you have to redo it in the way that the world does it. You don't have to go get a developer and pay them $10,000 or $20,000 to redo your website. No, what you need to do is strip down all the stuff that's crap, that avoids or distracts people from taking action, and make your website take action. Make people do something on your website. Give them a challenge, give them a PDF, give them a download, give them a training, give them a sample, give them something that they can actually use that's going to solve the problem they have in their life. That is what a powerful website looks like, that is what a powerful website does for your business, and you don't have to stress about people coming back. They'll come back if it gets them to take action and when they're ready to come back again, they will.

This training, this week, is just one small way to AutomateBIG.