Every marketing conversation I have with a consultant sooner or later gets around to their website. The status reports I’ve hard in the last week fit into these untidy categories:
- “I’m between an old one and a new one. I just can’t seem to wrap my mind around the right words.”
- “I really haven’t looked at it for a while, besides I don’t get any business that way.”
- “It needs work, but my webmaster keeps telling me she can’t write for my audience and I just don’t have time and I can’t find anyone who can.”
For consultants it is always time to work on their web site. Always.
Lack of Consistency
When I review sites for clients I find one overwhelming problem, a lack of consistency.
The website is inconsistent in its overall viewpoint floating back and forth between being all about the Consultant, his or her process and certifications and the problem to be solved.
Then, too, there is no consistency with their social media profiles, particularly Linked In.
The wrong conversation
Most believe a website should answer the question, “What do you do?”
WRONG!
The question you should be answering should be “What can you do for me?”
That simple shift will allow you to find the right words, the ones that will generate business and a way for you to evaluate a writer for your site.
Time is not on your side
ProBrandr , the way you can inject your Brand into your Linked In profile in just one evening is based on over 25 years of monitoring how people respond to on-line postings. Time is not on your side. Here’s how things stack up for your website:
Panel 1: You have 3 seconds to tell the kind of people you work with what you can do for them. Here’s what I say:
“Consultant Marketing and Brand advisor
I guide consultants and consulting organizations to become
more memorable and more profitable.
503 957-7901”
The statement you make here should:
- Identify the clients you work with
- State the outcome(s) you deliver
- Give them a way to contact you
Everything else you say on that panel is extraneous. Yes, you need navigation but that is not considered informational in and of itself.
Profitable point of view
Your website should be all about clients and client outcomes. Consider including outcome information directed to each audience you serve, client testimonials, information about you and your team and a way for prospects to contact you.
The question they want an answer to is “What can you do for me?” They are looking for someone who has the expertise to solve their problem for a reasonable fee in a way that is understandable to them, and won’t upset staff and operations.
Your Website should make them feel comfortable in contacting you, not to be pitched but to be listened to.
And so it goes moving from Credibility to Cash.
Jerry Fletcher is a sought-after International Speaker, a beBee ambassador, founder and CEO of Z-axis Marketing, Inc. See Jerry’s speaker demo reel.
His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for on and off-line Trust-based Consultant Marketing advice that builds businesses, brands and lives of joy.
Credibility to Cash TM is his latest way to share experiences so you can take your business up a notch…or two.
Consulting: https://www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: https://www.NetworkingNinja.com Product: https://www.ProBrandr.com