D.Marze

How To Set Up A “Sales System” On Your Site To Increase Sales And Build A Hungry List Of Potential Customers

Before we get started, if you are dreading this like a trip to the dentist, I’ll let you off the hook. You don’t need to create your site yourself. If you don’t have the time or inclination to do it, then it’s better to just outsource this task to a competent professional.

If you’re dreading outsourcing like a trip to the dentist, I highly recommend you check out www.OutsourceWeekly.com for help. (It’s painless. I promise.)

Now while you certainly can make a bare-bones site that consists of a sales page and a thank you page, I urge you to consider setting up a full “sales system” on your site. Doing so will help you increase your response rate and build a prospect list.

Here are the parts of your website and sales process:

Squeeze page (with autoresponder and freebie).

The squeeze page is an email-capture page that prospects see before they see the sales letter. The idea is to get your prospects on your list so you can contact them repeatedly to close the sale.

People aren’t going to join your list without reason. That’s why you need to offer them a freebie to entice. I suggest that you offer a “lite” version of your eClass delivered entirely by autoresponder. That way you get to contact your prospects multiple times, show them how valuable your content is, and whet their appetites for the full course.

Check out www.ListProfitSystem.com & www.SmallReportsFortune.com to see examples of effective squeeze pages.

Sales page.

This is the page that persuades your web page visitors to buy a “seat” in your eClass. Naturally, it includes a “buy now” button at the end of the sales letter. In just a few minutes you’ll discover the secrets of writing persuasive sales copy.

Upsell page.

Once your prospects click on the “buy” button, they’re usually taken to the payment page. However, you can take them to an upsell page instead, which sells your prospects on adding more to their order.

Example: You may offer your prospects the opportunity to buy blocks of additional questions or even telephone time with you at discount. If they wait and purchase these add-ons later, they’ll need to pay more.

You may also offer additional (related) products, a “platinum” package that includes physical copies of the course delivered by mail and so on.

My favorite course on this topic is: http://www.srzone.com/upsell

(Only $15 and you’ll get 25 different ideas for upsells.)

Thank you page (Download and/or eClass registration).

Once your new customer has completed his purchase, he should be forwarded to your thank you and registration page. Here you thank him for his purchase, remind him of when the class starts and ask him to “register” immediately by joining your eClass newsletter list.

Tip: After students register, you should send out a welcoming email that reminds them of when the class starts, gives them important information such as your contact email address and gives them an overview of what they’ll learn in the coming month. You may also give them an unannounced bonus as a way to reduce buyer’s remorse and create satisfied customers.

Other pages and options.

Other pages you may want to add to your site: an affiliate sign-up page; your policy pages, such as the terms of service and privacy policy; a blog; a members-only forum.

Tip: Your terms of service and other policy pages are legal documents, so they should either be created by a lawyer or at least reviewed by a lawyer.

Here’s an example of an affiliate page that Nicole Dean, Jimmy D. Brown’s affiliate manager put together for his site, www.SRZone.com

If you don’t want to put this site together yourself, you’ll need to hire a copywriter and a mini-site designer.

However, even if you don’t plan on putting it together yourself, I strongly suggest you read and absorb everything in the next sections on design and copywriting…

Designing Your Site

Moments ago I listed some of the pages that may make up your website.

Now let’s talk about how to design these pages individually and get a simple website up and running.

Here are the five steps:

• Step #1: Plan Your Site

• Step #2: Get a Template

• Step #3: Make Your Graphics

• Step #4: Modify Your Template

• Step #5: Upload Your New Web Pages

Let’s look at each of these in detail…

Step #1: Plan Your Site

Your site does NOT need to be complicated. At a bare minimum, you need these two pages:

• A sales page that convinces prospects to purchase and includes an order link so that they can do so.

• A thank you page, which is where your new customers will be able to sign up for your eClass mailing list (so that they receive the lessons).

As mentioned earlier, you may decide to add other things to your site, such as a page about your affiliate program, a squeeze page to help you build a mailing list, etc. For the purposes of this discussion, however, we’re just going to focus on the two-page site. (You can add your other pages later.)

1. Sales page.

This page typically includes these parts:

• An eye-catching header. This header usually includes photos or other graphics that match the overall site, the name of the site (class) and perhaps even a line of text such as the main benefit. You want people to get a sense of what the page is about merely by looking at the header.

• A matching footer graphic. This is a graphic at the bottom of your page that matches the header (i.e., the same colors, graphics, etc). It may include your name and a copyright notice.

• Graphics depicting the product. Depending on what you’re offering, you may show graphics of ebooks, reports, CDs, videos, etc.

• Other graphical elements to “spice up” your page, including buy buttons, bullet points or check marks, guarantee seals, graphics that look like handwriting, etc. You may also consider a background graphic (though this isn’t necessary, and the wrong background makes a sales page look amateurish).

• Your sales letter (which you’ll learn how to write just a bit later).

• If you’re not using a separate squeeze page, then you’ll need an email capture form. This form may either be embedded within the sales letter or it can show up as a pop-up or hovering window. The separate pop-up or hovering form is more popular, because filling out the form doesn’t take the prospect away from your sales page.

At this step you want to plan what each of the elements will look like. What colors best fit your niche? What type of graphics will add to your overall design?

Example: If you’re doing a fishing site, then you already know that a site with an “outdoorsy” feel and pictures of fish are things you’ll want to include.

For inspiration, look at your competitors’ sites and analyze what you like and dislike about them.

Naturally, you can go outside your niche to find design elements you like. DON’T copy any of them – rather, use them as inspiration as you complete the rest of the steps.

1. Thank you page.

The second page is the thank you page, which is a very simple page that includes the following content. Please note that your thank you page should match your sales page as far as colors and design elements.

• First (as the name suggests), you thank your new customer for his purchase, and congratulate him on making a wise decision.

• Then you remind your new customer of all the benefits he’s about to receive. He’s enthusiastic now – and you want to keep him that way!

• Next, you remind him of how the charge on his credit card statement will appear.

• Finally, your thank you page will include an email-capture form so he can join your mailing list.

Once you’ve planned the look of your site, move on to the next steps so you can turn these plans into real pages…

Step #2: Get a Template

If you’re going to create your own web pages, then you have two options:

1. Create the entire page from scratch…

1. Or find a template that you can tweak.

If you’ve never created a web page before, then the fastest and easiest way for you to do so is by starting with a template.

You can find both free and paid templates online (run a search for “web templates” or “mini site design templates” and you’ll find plenty of options). Since most free templates require that you include their link at the bottom of each page, you’re better off purchasing a paid template.

Here are two places to check out: http://www.imtemplates.com or http://nicelydonetemplates.com

And no matter where you get your templates, keep these points in mind:

• Choose a plain HTML template. Be careful – many web templates include advanced graphical elements like flash design. Stick with basic HTML, as doing so will make it easier for you to edit.

• Seek out templates where you like the overall design. Things like color are easier to tweak as opposed to rearranging design elements. You’ll also learn how to create customized graphics in the next step.

Step #3: Make Your Graphics

Before you start tweaking your new template, you’ll want to tweak the graphics (if any are included) or create your own graphics.

Tip: Again, if you don’t have an eye for graphics or if you don’t have the time or inclination to learn how to use your graphics editing software, you can outsource this task to a graphical artist. Simply open a project for bidding on Elance.com.

Assuming you know something about your chosen graphics-editing software, follow these steps:

First step – get some suitable stock photos to use as part of your header, footer, ecover graphics and similar.

You can get good (yet inexpensive) photos at www.istockphoto.com or www.stockxpert.com.

Second step – open up your graphic editing software (such as Gimp, Photoshop or similar) so that you can start creating your graphics and altering your stock photo images:

• Header graphics (which look like banner ads) vary in height and length, depending mainly on how wide your sales page is. Length may be around 650 to 750 pixels, with height ranging on average from 150 to about 200 pixels.

• Footer graphics (which also look like banners), will sit at the bottom of your sales page. These should be the same length as the header graphics, but the height is generally 25% to 50% smaller than the header.

• Product graphics, such as ecover, CD, and report graphics. If you’re an advanced Photoshop or Gimp user, you can make your own ecover graphics. Otherwise, it may be easier for you to use software that’s specially designed to create these graphics, such as www.pushbuttonecover.com. This sort of software allows you to drop your stock photo into the software, add your text, and pop out a graphic just a minute or two later.

Tip: If your template includes graphics, then be sure to make your graphics the same size. Doing so makes it easier for you to edit the template (especially if you’ve never designed a website before).

Once your graphics are complete, save them in the same folder as your other template graphics. If you want to replace the originals with your new graphics, rename your new graphics to the same names as the originals.

For example, if the original header was named “header.jpg,” then that’s what you would name your new header as well (assuming it’s the same size and shape).

Tip: You should make a backup copy of the original graphics and place them elsewhere on your computer (or even using removable storage). That way, you have the originals just in case you ever need them again. Likewise, you should keep an original copy of your template in a separate place from your revised version.

Step #4: Modify Your Template

You have your graphics and you have your web template. Now it’s time to edit it…

1. Open your HTML editor and template file.

Once you’ve launched your HTML editor (such as Dreamweaver), find and open your web template file. Usually you click on File then Open.

Note: if you don’t want to purchase Dreamweaver, here are some options: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_HTML_editors

Tip: Most editors allow you to edit your page by clicking, copying and pasting, etc. If you open your file and all you see is HTML code, look for an option to view the page instead. This usually comes under the menu option of “View” (then click on “design” or a similar option).

2. Create a placeholder for your text.

Most templates already include a placeholder for your text, which you can erase and replace with your content when you’re ready.

If your template doesn’t include a placeholder, then put your cursor on the page where you’d like text to appear and type up something (anything) to serve as a placeholder.

If you’re starting with your sales letter, then create placeholders for:

• A title at the top of the letter.

• A sub-title.

• Salutation (e.g., “Dear Friend”).

• Body of your letter (including bulleted benefit list, testimonials, a guarantee and anything else you’d like to include).

• Payment link (we’ll get to that in a moment).

• Closing and signature.

• P.S.

• Contact information and similar info at the bottom.

Tip: Later on you’ll learn how to create your sales letter. Once your sales letter is complete, you can erase these placeholders and replace them with your actual letter.

3. Drop in your new graphics.

As mentioned: If you’ve tweaked existing graphics and/or if you’ve created new graphics that are the same size as the template’s graphics, then all you have to do is rename your new graphics to the same name as the original graphics (thus replacing them).

That way, you don’t have to edit anything on the web page itself – it will automatically update the graphic to the new image.

If, however, you’re adding graphics onto the page where none existed before, then you’ll need to drop them in.

With many HTML editors the process works like this: Place your cursor on the part of your template you want your graphic to appear, click on “Insert” and then click on “Image.” You’ll then need to navigate to the proper folder on your computer and double click on the image to insert it.

4. Embed order links or buttons.

Most payment processors take you step-by-step through the process of setting up your payment link or button. And since it varies for every processor, I obviously can’t give you exact step-by-steps for all of them.

However, I’ll go through an example using PayPal, as most other payment processors will have a similar procedure.

Indeed, processors like ClickBank.com provide step-by-step procedures on their site. (Check your preferred processor for onsite instructions and videos).

Here’s how to set up and embed a Paypal payment link:

• Log into your PayPal account.

• Click on “Merchant Services.”

• Click on “Buy Now Button”

• Choose the default choice of accepting payments for products.

• Leave the default “No, create a Buy Now Button” option checked.

• Type in the name of your eClass as the item name, and choose an item number that makes sense to you. You may use something like eClass01 as an item number (which makes it easier for you to do your bookkeeping later).

• Choose your price and preferred currency.

• You can skip the button customization options, shipping and tax.

• Leave the default “Secure Merchant Account ID” option checked.

• You may skip the “Track inventory, profit and loss” option (unless you’re an advanced user and have a reason to change these options).

• Click on “Customize advanced features.”

• Leave the top three default options as-is, and scroll down to “Take customer to a specific page (URL) after checkout cancellation.” Click the checkbox to the left of this text in order to enable this feature. Then enter your sales page URL (e.g., “http://www.yourdomain.com”).

• Click the checkbox next to “Take customer to a specific page (URL) after successful checkout” to enable this feature. Then enter your thank you page URL.

Tip: You should create a thank you page link that’s hard to guess. For example, you may have nonsensical letters and numbers as folder names, like this: http://www.yourdomain.com/dk93jdh/thanks.html.

• Next, scroll down and click on “Create button.” Then copy the provided code for your button (copy and paste instructions are provided on this page)

• Paste the code into your web page.

To do this, return to your HTML editor. Put your cursor in the place where you want your payment button to appear. Now switch to viewing the source code (in editors like Dreamweaver, you click on “View” and then click on “Source Code”). Scroll down to where your cursor is blinking and paste the button code into that spot (use “CTRL+V” or your favorite way of pasting text).

Tip: If you’re using a payment processor that doesn’t have payment buttons, you can either use a plain payment text link, or you can create your own “pay now” button and link it to your payment processor’s order page.

To make a graphic clickable, first insert the graphic into your web page (as described earlier). In most editors, you can then click once on the embedded graphic to select it. Then find the option in your editor to insert a link.

The raw source code for a clickable graphic will look something like this

<a href=”http://www.OrderFormLink.com”><img src=”http://www.yourdomain.com/images/buynowbutton.jpg” border=”0″></a>

5. Create an email capture form.