I hope you have enjoyed your fishing trip thus far! Hold on because it is about to get more exciting. Up until now you have been busy strategizing and gathering all the necessary equipment and bait necessary to accomplish your goal of catching the fish of your dreams….. Putting all of that time spent to good use you are now waiting and watching for the opportunity to hook that fish. Now is not the time to be careless. You need to pay attention. You have gained the knowledge necessary to become a successful fisherman. You should use this knowledge to adjust and tweak your plan as you go to achieve the best results.
You know how to use your tools. You have researched and decided on the customers you want to attract. You know where and when the bait will bring the best results. You have also carefully selected the bait that will be irresistible to your particular market. Now you are waiting for the customer to take the bait. Some will read or watch your generous contribution and move on. We will call this a nibble… It is normal and it is a good sign that your bait is working to attract customers. I have two paths to discuss at this point.
- You have a good percentage of readers that take the bait and are hooked into your web site. This is great and you should build on that success.
- The second path is….. What if they never go past the nibble stage? What does that mean? Let’s analyze the situation. You are probably in the right place at the right time. You are also using good bait. People are taking advantage of your content. They are reading it or watching it. The questions you should be asking……
- Are they enjoying it?
- Are they finding it helpful?
- Are you using a hook to pull them to your website?
Let’s take a look at what you should do in each of these scenarios…..
You are Hooking Customers
Great this is what it is all about. You should use this success as motivation to step up your game. Tweak your placement… Tweak your bait… Try to improve your success. You should also use this success to drive you in more directions. If you can successfully pull customers from this particular place surely you can do it again elsewhere.
Your Customers Are Only Nibbling
Do not be discouraged. This is both an art and a science. The good news it is not Rocket Science! You can do it. Again, you will need to start tweaking. Do not dump everything upside down and start over. You have done your research. You know your customer and you are getting their attention. The first place I would start is with the hook. Make certain that you are inviting them to continue on the journey they have started. Make sure this invitation is one that they cannot refuse. Once you have insured that your hook is in place and ready to go. Move on to the bait itself. Go over it again. Make sure that your customer will feel they have benefited from the experience.
If you do this you will find the perfect scenario and you will become a successful fisherman. Just be aware that this is a process. There is work to be done regardless of the success of your campaign. Tweak it! Expand it! You can grow your business. The more effort you put into your project the more successful you will become. Your goal should be to work smarter than all the other fishermen.
Ok. Example time… In the “Bait” article we discussed how a real estate agent could attract customers with a helpful article on getting the best appraisal for their property. Let’s look at how a hook will be inserted into this bait. Remember, I have read the article. I found it helpful and relevant to my needs. During the process I was offered a free appraisal analysis. The agent is telling me that at no risk to me they will meet with me at my property and advise me on what I can do to increase my appraisal. Wow! This guy obviously knows what he is talking about. What can it hurt to get some advice from him before I call for my appraisal? I will take that bait! I am now hooked and heading to this website.
You will notice that throughout every step of this process I as the customer am being impressed and having a good time. You are slowly gaining my confidence and my trust. Any good sales man will tell you that to close a deal the customer must trust you. This is the journey we are on from the first contact we have with our customers wherever it is… We have to earn their trust.
So…… What will I find when I get to the website? This is just as important as every step we have taken thus far. I have been hooked. However I have not been caught. I have taken the bait. It has impressed me and I am heading towards the boat. We are not done yet! In our next article we will discuss the Catch.
