Keep Your Web site Enticing

"Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."- Ralph Waldo Emerson Basically, what that quote denotes is that you don't want to do the same thing over and over again; it gets dull, but few people understand this insight. Though my literature professor would be most pleased that I remembered this quote (salutations Dr. Fitter), the reason I supply it is because it applies to your business website. Sure it may be a bit of a hassle to keep things fresh, but the little things count and make huge waves. Switching classes, another insight provided by a business professor: It essentially cost less to sell to an existing customer than to try and allure a new one (top of the morning, Dr. McSmythe). Well, you definitely should try and attract new customers, but you don't want the existing ones to get bored, do you? You want your visitors, old and new, to be compelled to keep coming back, again and again.

You want to keep new and invigorating things happening on your website to be both noticed and maintained amongst the millions of other sites out there. There is a multitude of ways in going about and achieving this, but I would say creativity and ingenuity are going to be one of the most integral tools. The good thing is everyone has these tools, the bad thing is not everyone wants to put forth the effort into tapping into them, so don't join the league of the latter. Think of updating your site daily to weekly; at least monthly my lazy friends! You could even start creating a theme that can be recycled each day to week, like the 'business tip of the day,' or 'Friday's Insights' (you can take these, I have plenty more, I'm an idea man).

For special sales or offers, you want to create a sense of urgency, like they are once-in-a-lifetime deals that will never come again (even if you do it once a month). If you generate ideas like this often enough, people will swing by your site quite often to see what you will come up with next. Remember Letterman's Top Ten List- I would stay up to watch the show just to see what he whipped up for that night (ah, a top-ten list, I'm just throwing them out there).

Treat your existing customers like gold, because they are the gems that will make you your money. Try and get a feel for who your customers are, this will follow logically from whatever products and services you offer. For instance, if you are a golfing product company, most likely you will not want to provide information about where to find the latest in punk-rock garb (though I could see Sid Vicious in argyle- Sid Vicious was in a punk band called the Sex Pistols for you golfers out there). You want to create an engaging environment for existing and potential clients based on the nature of what you provide and any other germane elements as well. For instance, in still going with the golfing company, you would maybe provide information on great golfing vacation packages or an on-going link to upcoming golfers to look for on the tour.

Basically, what I wanted to do for you here is to remind you that your possibilities of marketing are virtually limitless. You just have to exercise that right side of the brain (that is the creative side of the brain- thanks Dr. Wilhelm). There is nothing wrong with looking at comparable sites to yours to get some inspiration for some ideas; I suggest considering your competitor's ideas, take them, and make yours better than theirs- big businesses do this all the time. But what you really want to shoot for is thinking outside of the box, you want your customers to know that you set the pace for the rest, you are ahead of the game already, and you are just waiting for time to catch up with you. Having a panel of creative guys on your team can't hurt (I'm sorry, I'm taken, but I did leave you with a little bit of imaginative ideas). Another source of inspiration is perusing through the Internet to locate sites that might have some fanciful thoughts to relay. For small to medium sized businesses (the big boys already have things wrapped tight, or so they think, until the rest of us catch up), I suggest visiting the Industry Experts page on VendorSeek's website found at www.VendorSeek.com. Well, until next time, study your lessons and keep your crowd guessing.