So you have a website up and running. But you wont be selling anything if the crowds dont come. How do you get the crowds to come by your website without paid advertising
Try running a contest!
Besides helping you promote your business, running a contest enables you to collect details about your prospects! After all, those who participate in the contest must somehow be interested in your prizes, right
Organising a contest is an indirect way to get more information about your prospects. Once you have their emails in hand, you can contact them when you have promotions, discounts, giveaways, freebies and goodies directly.
Yes, running a contest is one of the many ways you can draw the crowd, especially if you offer your products as contest prizes.But what if you dont have any products to offer as prizes No problem! If you run a consultancy, offer your services as the prize. Yet, if you feel that you need to offer something tangible, you could try partnering with other businesses to offer prizes related to your business.
To run a successful contest, here are five important things to remember.
1. Whats In It For Me
Those who join your online contest are in it for one thing: self-interest. What benefit will they derive from joining your contest Give them a cant-say-no reason. This means offering them a contest prize that they simply cannot refuse. The key thing is: never give them a product that is mediocre or worthless. People are not stupid so do not take them for a ride by offering something that you, yourself would not use or buy. Think like your customer: does this prize get me excited if I win If you cant even get yourself hyped up about the prize, its time to re-think.
2. How Long Does It Run
Next, determine the duration of the contest. Some run for a month, some run for three. The disadvantages of running a contest longer than a month is that participants attention will falter and soon, your contest may be forgotten. A shorter duration may be a good bet sometimes. Again, this depends on how confident you are of your prize and how much attention youll expect itll garner.
3. Brainstorm For Ideas
Now that you have the prize and duration settled, think about how to present your contest. What type are you looking at Nows a good time to brainstorm and decide how simple or complicated you want it to be. Do you want your participants to write a slogan Do you want your participants to hunt for some information on your website Again, as the organiser, its your call. Based on our experience, give something in between - not too complex to stump them and drive them off, nor something too easy that insults their intelligence.
4. Design The Contest
Finally, it is time to put the contest to work by designing the necessary web pages and forms (if applicable). How do you want the participants to send their entries in By email Or do you need them to fill up a form on your website Before your contest goes live online, get family members or friends to test out the contest and weed out problems, if any.
Another important tip is to also include a page which sets out the rules and regulations of the contest (you dont want disgruntled participants, do you). Be sure you tell them when the contest results will be posted online at your website. Most contest organisers will post contest results on their website as well as send an email to the winners, informing them.
5. Promote It Everywhere
Once the contest is ready, it is time to promote the contest to everyone you know. Naturally, the first place to do so would be on your website. Next, promote it on other websites, on newsgroups, wherever you can stick the contest announcement.
Dont think only in terms of online promotion. Youd be surprised that offline promotion works too.
At the same time, dont leave out your existing customers either. Send them an email announcing the contest. Tell them to send or refer the contest to friends and families, especially since you know theyve bought from you and they know your products well (that is, if you are offering your own product).
The key to any successful online contest is to keep promoting it, even until the deadline itself.
Now that you know how to run a contest, go on, get one organised! It takes some work and needs some creative thinking but its fun and helps you promote your business in the most innovative way!
Nic Sim is the owner and founder of a web design firm dedicated to helping solo professionals and small businesses go online affordably and successfully with its easy to use, no-fuss Redbox DIY Website. Read his business blog for tips and lots more. Go to for more details.
Even experienced marketers need web promotion advice when theytransition from traditional business practices to internetmarketing. Getting web promotion advice prior to writing salescopy for the web is pretty important since the web copy isactually a huge aspect of effectively promoting a website. Sure,some of the same marketing principles apply to both worlds - anytype of sales copy should grab the readers interest, hold theirattention, create desire, and have a strong call to action.Anyone who engages in marketing knows those basic principles.However, when it comes to internet marketing, the sales copyplays more than one role. The multiple roles are the reason thatweb promotion advice is needed before the web copy is written.
Anyone who gives web promotion advice should give adequateattention to the web copy. The purposes it serves are:
1. Advertising
2. Sales
3. Search engine attraction
Now, in the real business world sales copy is generally justadvertising. The intent of traditional sales letters andmarketing materials is simply to get those who read it into astore or on the telephone where a salesperson takes over andcloses sales. In the virtual business world; however, the salescopy must make more of an impact than that.
Sometimes a website will have a phone number where websitevisitors can call, chat with a salesperson and place an order,but for the most part, the sales copy on a website replaces thesalesperson altogether. Thus, it must not only provoke interestso that the website visitor reads the sales copy, it must alsohold the readers attention, provoke desire for the product orservice it is offering, present a call to action, and literallyclose the sale.
Web promotion advice that aims to assist you in creating powerfulweb copy that fulfills all of these roles will likely giveconsideration to two types of web copy that are used for websitepromotion - long copy and short copy. The best web promotionadvice leans toward long copy for websites because short littleblurbs about a product or service simply dont complete the fullsales process. The only time that short copy is reallyrecommended is if you are using an online catalog.
Short copy can be used in product or service descriptions in thecatalog to promote the products or services. Long copy; however,has some pretty unique points that need to be considered. Inaddition to web promotion advice that deals with the copy as asales tool, web promotion advice also gives consideration to theuse of keywords and keyword phrases that make the websiteattractive to the search engines.
Web promotion advice for long sales copy
Long sales copy is ideal for web promotion because it walks thereader through everything that a salesperson would do in a face-to-face (or telephone) sales situation. Before you write yoursales copy, you should determine your competitive advantage andunique selling proposition, translate the features of yourproducts or services into benefits for the consumer, and craft apricing strategy that will set the image you wish to portray aswell as provoking the consumer to buy - perceived value is key.
Using these important aspects of the web promotion advice, createa headline and a subheading that will grab the readers attentionas soon as the web page loads. Initially, the sales copy shouldmake it clear to the reader what you are offering to them interms of benefits. Long copy should also build your credibilitywith the reader through testimonials or the discussion ofcredentials. Generally a guaranty is used to instill confidence.Bonuses or freebies can be included to add value to the offering,and then the long sales copy needs to have a strong call toaction that creates urgency.
Sometimes a reduced price for a limited time or a bonus that isavailable for a limited time provides the urgent prompting forthe call to action. Last but not least, the sales copy has to askfor the order and make it easy for the reader to place an orderor to contact you for more information.
Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope,fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketingadvice youre getting Whether you are new to internet marketing,or a website owner who wants to make more money from yourwebsite, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket yourinternet business at