Women Entrepreneurs - The First Year

When was the last time you updated your website?

It all started with a note from a friend of mine.  I met her when she interviewed me for her blog about Women Entrepreneurs.  I hadn't heard from her in a while and I was wondering how she was doing.  Turned out she is caring for her elderly parents and isn't putting any time into her consulting business right now.

A couple of weeks later the light went on.  I bet that if she isn't doing her consulting business right now, her website probably isn't up.  And if her website isn't up, I bet that means that my link to it isn't working!

And sure enough, when I clicked the link for Fun Car Tattoos, I found a dead link instead of an exciting article about yours truly! 

That got me to thinking...What else about my website isn't current?

I'm a little embarrassed to say that there was a lot about my website that wasn't current.  Actually, "current" might not be the right word.  "Stale" is probably more like it.  I didn't have anything holiday specific on it.  Halloween had come and gone and my business didn't even know it!  My message seemed very ho-hum.  It didn't have quite the "kick" it did when I originally wrote it. 

Don't let this happen to you!  Remember, your customers need an excuse to keep coming back to your website.  If it doesn't look any different after the first couple of times they come back, they'll stop visiting it.  And if they don't visit you, how can you expect them to buy from you?

And don't think that it's just aesthetics that you need to keep on top of.  Look under the hood too!  Make sure that your keywords and title pages are current too!  Unfortunately, it's a lot like Spring cleaning.  You think that you are just going to clean the base boards and you end up painting the house inside and out!

Anyone else out there got caught with an outdated website?  Be sure to let us know.  In the meantime, I'm posting a picture of my dog Yori who would have been on my website if I had done a better job of staying on top of things!

Top Ten Marketing Trends for Small Businesses in 2009

2009 is flying by and I thought it would be a good time to regroup.  I remember reading an article, Top Small Business Marketing Trends by Ivana Taylor which mentioned that social media went from being on the cutting edge, to approaching the mainstream.  I would probably add that in my opinion,  social media is mainstream.  I even have a fan page for my business, Fun Car Tattoos, on Facebook! and I'm assuming that nearly everyone else does too!

When looking at the small business marketing trends that Ivana mentions in her article, it really is important to try and figure out how social medias can help you attract and keep your customers.  I'm just listing the 10 small business marketing trends that Ivan talks about in her article.  Please go to Ivana's original article for details on each of the 10 trends!  Not only does she explain each of the trends, she has suggestions on how you can take advantage of each one.

1. AUTHENTICITY

2. DO IT YOURSELF MARKETING

3. TECH-DRIVEN WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING

4. ECO AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

5. BOOTSTRAPPING AND SIMPLICITY

6. MARKETING TO THE “BUY BUTTON”

7. PAID MEMBERSHIPS

8. MOBILITY

9. WISDOM OF CROWDS

10. PERSONAL BRANDING

Of the 10 trends, I am very itnerested in #4, ECO and Social Responsibility.  As Ivana points out,

“Green” has gone mainstream. It’s not just a trendy thing to say anymore.   Especially young customers want to know what difference your company is making in the world!  One of the things that I'm wrestling with is packaging. 

I've been selling my cute car magnets in plastic bags with "hang tags."  While these still might be necessary for stores, I wonder if they are necessary when I'm selling them directly to an end user.  I'm worried that the packaging won't be as attractive if I just wrap my products in tissue paper.  Hmmm... this is probably where some clever marketing comes in!  Let me think about it.  Not only could I probably reduce my packaging costs, but I could eliminate a plastic bag every time I ship an order.  Sounds like a win-win to me!

* * * * *

About the Author: Ivana Taylor is CEO of Third Force, a strategic firm that helps small businesses get and keep their ideal customer.  She’s the co-author of the book “Excel for Marketing Managers” and proprietor of DIYMarketers, a subscription site for in-house marketers.  Her blog is Strategy Stew.

 

I blew it! National Take Your Dog to Work Day and my business didn't celebrate it!

I am so embarrassed!  Did you know that today is National Take Your Dog to Work Day? 

The good news is that yes, I did take Yori, the cutest dog in the whole world, with me to work today.  That isn't the problem.

The bad news is that I sell really cute dog paw car magnets and... I didn't even make a big deal about it on my website!

How many of us small business owners are trying to figure out excuses to change our websites?  How many of us small business owners are trying to think of new material for our newsletters?  How many of us small business owners are trying to figure out new ways to use Twitter?  How many of us small business owners are racking our brains trying to reach out to our customers just to keep them informed?

Well, here was an opportunity staring me in the face and I blew it!    I did not even mention Take Your Dog to Work Day on my business, Fun Car Tattoos! 

Don't let this happen to you!  There are a zillion unofficial holidays - everything from Walk to Work Day to Breakfast for Dinner Day to Martini Day to Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Be sure to use these days to market your business!  Just remember, if you don't, your competitor will!

I don't use Twitter but here's how you can!

 OK gang.  I admit it.  I don't use Twitter.  I don't use Twitter to announce a sale...such as these cute Hot Lip car magnets from my business, Fun Car Tattoos.  I don't use Twitter to make product announcements or to tell my customers about a cute animal video that I saw on the web.  (Though...here's a really cute animal video that you might want to check out!)

And yet... I do complain that business isn't as good as it could be.  How silly is that?  I complain but I don't change what I'm doing.  So...maybe it's time to get on the bandwagon and start using Twitter.  Maybe it will be just what I need to kick start my business.

How about you?  Is it time to use Twitter?  Here's 17 reasons to use Twitter by Dosh Dosh -a blog offering internet marketing and blogging tips, alongside social media strategies.

1. Personal Branding. Twitter is a social media platform you can use to build your personal brand. It has the primary benefit of developing a casual persona and establishes you as a social personality that is connected and approachable. As Twitter adoption increases, new users will be drawn towards well established Twitter personas.
2. Get Feedback. Need an alternative perspective on how a website looks or the right course of action to take? Blast out a message asking for advice and you’ll receive replies from other users. This collective intelligence can be used as fodder for articles or projects.
3. Hire People. Need a good logo designer, marketer or programmer? Send out a message asking for recommendations. This is a very quick and easy way to hire freelancers or even companies based on familiar recommendations.
4. Direct traffic. Twitter can be used to get traffic to your websites or the sites of friends. If you ask your friends to tweet about it, the message will spread faster and further as other active users pick it up. There is a viral nature to all types of news, even on a site like Twitter.
5. Read News. Twitter users often link to useful sites or articles and can be a source of scoops and alternative news. You can also subscribe to Twitter feeds for specific websites/conferences, which allows you to receive and view content quickly. This is very useful for active social news participants.
6. Make New Friends. Like any other social network, Twitter has a built-in function for you to befriend and track the messages of other users. This is an easy way for you connect with people outside of your usual circle. Make an effort to add active users you find interesting. A Twitter acquaintance can be developed into a long lasting friendship.
7. Network for benefits. Twitter can be used as a socializing platform for you to interact with other like-minded people, especially those in the same industry. It can be used to establish consistent and deeper relationships for future benefits such as testimonials or peer recommendations.
8. Use it as a ToDo list. Use Twitter to record down what you need to do while you are away from the computer. Mark the tweet as a favorite to file it for referencing. Another alternative is to use an Online task management service that is synced with Twitter. One example is Remember The Milk.
9. Business Management. Twitter can be used as a company intranet that connects employees to one another. Workers can liaise with each other when working on group projects. Particularly useful when certain workers go out often in the field. Updates could be set to private for security reasons.
10. Notify Your Customers. Set up a Twitter feed for the specific purpose of notifying customers when new products come in. Customers can subscribe via mobile or RSS for instant notification. Twitter can also be used to provide mini-updates for one-on-one clients.
11. Take Notes. Twitter provides you with an easy way to record important ideas or concepts you want to explore further. Include links relevant to ideas you want to explore. Note taking can also be done offline via mobile applications.
12. Event Updates. Businesses can use Twitter as a means to inform event participants and latest event happenings/changes. This is a hassle-free way of disseminating information, especially when you don’t have the means to set up a direct mobile link between you and the audience
13. Find Prospects. Twitter can be used as a means to find potential customers or clients online. Do a search for keywords related to your product on Twitter Search and then follow users. Tweet about topics parallel to your product and close prospects away from public channels by using direct messages or offline communications. Discretion and skill is needed in this area.
14. Provide Live coverage. Twitter’s message size limit prevents detailed coverage of events but it can allow you to provide real-time commentary which may help to spark further discussion or interest on the event as other Twitter users spread the message. Very useful for citizen journalism.
15. Time Management and Analysis. Twitter can simply be used to keep a detailed record of what you are doing every daily. This might be boring for others but this type of usage is useful when you want to analyze how you spend and manage your time.
16. Set Up Meetings. Twitter can help you organize impromptu meetups. For example, you can twitter a message while at a cafe, event or art gallery and arrange to meet fellow users at a specific spot. It’s an informal and casual way of arranging a meeting.
17. Acquire Votes. Send a link to your stories you’ve submitted in other social news sites like Digg. Sometimes your followers will vote up the stories because they agree with it. This allows you to acquire more support for your efforts on other social media websites.

Create a Wise Web Strategy

Hi everyone!  I just read this nifty article in WomenEntrepreneur.com by Lynn Parker which I thought was very interesting.  It talks about how you create a wise web strategy.  Well... I started to take her advice and found that I had a glitch on my web page and didn't have Google Analytics installed properly!

This taught me a good lesson...  Review your website often!  Even though you think that you've gotten all the bugs out, they somehow reappear!  In fact, one day I got a call from a customer who couldn't place an order from South Carolina.  If he hadn't called me, I would never have know that I had a problem!  And just as importantly, I would have lost a sale of my Hawaiian hibiscus car magnets from Fun Car Tattoos!

So don't make the same mistake I did!  Read what Lynn has to say about creating a wise web strategy and then think about following through on some of her suggestions!

Create a Wise Web Strategy

Follow these 6 steps to create an action plan that will deliver your brand promise online.

By: Lynn Parker | 06/02/2009           

How do you ensure that your website's architecture, content, navigation and overall experience are both delivering on your brand promise and aligning with your business goals? In my column, "Your Website Is Your Brand," I introduced the concept of a brand-based web strategy. In this column, I'll list the six steps needed to create your own web strategy.

Step 1: Articulate your unique value.

Make sure you understand the content of your brand promise before starting a website project. At the very least, identify what you do better, how you're different and whom you're targeting.

Step 2: Review what you've got.

If you have an existing website, take a look at your current site analytics (Google Analytics is a great, free resource tracking tool). This will help you get a feel for who's using your site, what they're after and how they're finding their way to you. This can also serve as a baseline for helping you develop your website strategy, including your user personas (see Step 3), key objectives and measurement strategy.

Step 3: Get to know your audience.

Create a series of user profiles to help you better understand the needs, motivations and online behaviors of your target audiences. It's helpful to create actual personas that include a name and picture, their occupation, as well as a brief personal history to help you get into the users' mind-set and understand what information they'll be looking for, how they'll navigate through your site and how you can deliver the optimal experience. Start with the point of pain they are easing by visiting your site, and build from there.

Step 4: Assess the competition.

Develop a visual diagram to help you assess your top competitors. As you navigate through their sites, try to experience it as if you were each of your persona profiles and ask yourself:

    * What's their brand promise?      

    * Are they delivering on brand experience?

    * How are they positioning themselves in the market?      

    * Whom do you think their target audiences are?

    * What's the hierarchy of the content?      

    * Can you easily navigate through the site to find what you're looking for?

    * What features do you appreciate?

Step 5: Create a web strategy.

The key to success: Align your website's infrastructure and objectives with your business goals through the development of a web strategy. Use your current analytics, your user personas and your competitive analysis to help devise a strategy. Ask yourself, what types of content will help you deliver on your brand promise and meet the needs of your users? Then create a list of the content you plan to include on your website. For example:

    * Solutions offered

    * Profiles/case studies

    * Proprietary resources

    * Blogs

    * News and events

    * Client testimonials

    * Video, audio, flash tutorials or demos

    * User-published content

    * Feeds, links, newsletters

    * Custom applications 

Decide how you'll organize your site: Where will content live? How will various items relate to one another? How will users navigate through the site? As you lay out this visual, ask yourself: What will people see when they land on the home page and how will they interact with the site from here on? Where will content live? Is the site delivering the experience users are expecting based on what we know about them?

I recommend creating a sketch of your home page to display how the real estate will be designated for each type of content, how the navigational style will influence the user's journey through the site and to demonstrate how you've translated your brand promise to the online experience. From there, create a site map (a visual layout of the site's architecture) to show how users will navigate through the site to find content.

Step 6: Create a measurement strategy.

Keep in mind that objectives need to be specific, measurable and attainable, and should always map back to your yearly business goals. If, for instance, one of your business goals is to increase new business leads, your web strategy needs to include the tactical measures to make that happen. That means:

    * Make the contact form easy to fill out

    * Provide an incentive for filling out the form

    * Provide clear next steps for contact. 

Limit yourself to five or six objectives; too many objectives become too hard to measure and attain.

Remember, a good website isn't determined by a flashy design; it's about communicating your distinct value by:

    * Understanding your differentiated value

    * Understanding who your users are      

    * Delivering valuable, organized content in a space that's easy to navigate

    * Creating a site that fortifies your relationship with prospects and customers alike by driving deeper engagement.

Lynn Parker is co-founder of Parker LePla, a brand strategy consulting firm in Seattle. She's also the author of The Reluctant Entrepreneur, and co-author of Integrated Branding and Brand Driven.

10 Free Ways to Promote an Online Business!

How many of you have found that you are getting less hits to your website today than you were a year ago?  Well, the truth is... I certainly have been!  I thought that people were going to be beating down the door to buy my cute little dog paw car magnets - to say nothing of my environmentally friendly carbon footprint car magnets.  But unfortunately, that isn't the case! 

And... you want to know why my web traffic has decreased?  Because I haven't spent the time promoting my business, Fun Car Tattoos, on line!  And you want to know something even worse?  I have no excuse!  Isabel Isidro says that there are 10 Free Ways to Promote an Online Business.  Here's how!

1. Create the best content you can with the best products you can possible offer.
2. Make it easy for users to recommend your site.
3. Rank well in search engines.
4. Send out press releases.
5. Submit articles.
6. Increase your conversion.
7. Syndicate your content.
8. Use free classifieds.
9. Tap Web 2.0 websites to market your business.
10. Contribute to other websites, forums and blogs to market your topic.

These are just the highlights.  Be sure to check out Free Ways to Promote on Online Business by Isabel Isidro to learn how we all can drive more traffic to our website!

 Isabel Isidro is the co-founder and VP-Managing Editor of PowerHomeBiz.com, an online magazine for home business entrepreneurs that provides guidance on starting, running and managing a home-based business.

 

Looking Good Isn't Enough!

I thought that having a good looking website was going to be enough to attract buyers to my site but according to the following article by Lynn Parker at WomenEntrepreurs.com, looking good isn't enough!

Hmmm... I better go back to my website, www.funcartattoos.com and see if my website let's people know that I give 5% of my car magnet sales to nonprofits such as the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition !

Listen to what Lynn has to say!

Your Website Is Your Brand

More important than looking good, your website must clearly communicate the value of your business.

by Lynn Parker

For many online companies, such as Expedia or Evite, the web is their brand experience because they offer online services through online channels. For other organizations, web presence is more like "brochureware"--in other words, a static marketing channel for real-world products and services. But whether your product is virtual or requires a warehouse and a forklift, the key is how you demonstrate and show your brand promise online.

In this first of a two-part series, I'll introduce the concept of a brand-based web strategy. Next month, I'll provide a step-by-step guide on how to create your own web strategy.

As the front door to your prospects, your website becomes your brand's face. From the moment they land on your home page, visitors make snap judgments about the value you provide, how you're different from competitors and whether they feel an emotional connection to your brand. So it's important to consider how well your web presence communicates your value.

Smart business owners get this, but they often respond to this imperative by spending a lot of time on their site's design, colors and images. That's a good start, but design is only part of a prospect's online experience. content continues below Equally important are:

* The type of content you have

* How the content is organized for each of your target users

* How it drives them to a deeper level of engagement with you

* How well it delivers on your brand promise.

For small businesses with limited resources, the website is crucial because it has to do so much work. It acts as a community outreach, sales, marketing and workflow management tool. And if you believe--as I do--that everything you do and say as a company makes up your brand promise, then your site must reflect your brand through and through. Otherwise, you'll leave customers wondering which experience they'll get the next time they call.

What Does This Mean to You?

Before you hire a designer, start by thinking of your site as an extension of your business strategy rather than just a line item in your marketing budget. And the best way to bridge from your brand to your site is with a web strategy. A web strategy provides intention and discipline to your website development process. It ties your brand and business goals for the year to content development, management and measurement strategies that guide the brand experience you provide on the web. What goes into a web strategy?

Here's an outline:

* It keeps tabs on your user profiles, allowing you to dive more deeply into who your users are and what they need from your site.

* It determines what the competitive landscape looks like.

* It audits stakeholder requirements.

* It maps out exactly what type of experience your site should deliver.

* It figures out what you should measure and how you should measure it (both via offline measurement tactics and online analytics), based on your goals and objectives.

In a nutshell, your web strategy is a lot like a website owner's manual, giving you all the tools you need to build, adapt and manage your online brand experience. So stop and think about the front door to your company's brand experience. Make sure it looks good. But more important, make sure it opens into your organization's promise and creates customer champions.

Lynn Parker is co-founder of Parker LePla, a brand strategy consulting firm in Seattle. She's also the author of The Reluctant Entrepreneur, and co-author of Integrated Branding and Brand Driven.

4 Keys to Successful Selling - Packaging, Novelty, Price and Accessibility

I'm always trying to figure out how to sell more of my really cute car magnets, when I came across this article by Cynthia McKay entitled "You Can Sell Anything.  All you need are the 4 keys to success: packaging, novelty, price and accessibility."

What I realized is that for my business, Fun Car Tattoos, I'm not looking at all 4 of these areas.  I think that the one area that needs the most work is Accessibility.  Hmmm... my cute car magnets are just available on the web.  I think that it's time to try to sell them to airport gift shops, pet shops and novelty stores.  Actually, I have a new carbon footprint car magnet that I should be promoting with the new "green" business wave.  How about you?  What else should you be doing to get your products out there?  Read Cynthia's article for some ideas and then let me know what works for you!

by Cynthia McKay

I was flying home from Florida recently when a blizzard hit Denver and left me stranded. I wandered around the airport contemplating a variety of travel options and stumbled upon a newsstand whose wares included chocolate alligators. I bought a box for dinner and, as I sat in front of the store munching on the chocolate delights, I saw several others making a similar purchase. It occurred to me that you really can sell anything.

How do you know what could work? I learned a lot as I people-watched. There was immense traffic in the concession areas, from the Starbucks to the clothing boutiques. I considered my own purchase: I could have invested in a bag of M&Ms for dinner, or I could have bought a more reasonable (and healthier) meal. Instead, I selected chocolate aquatic reptiles as the best option. Why?

Packaging, novelty, price and accessibility are all qualities of a successful brand. Sales success takes careful planning. Have you ever noticed that Cheerios boxes are placed right at the consumer's eye level in the cereal aisle of the grocery store? That's no accident. Companies pay a price for placing products in specific locations so they can be seen and accessed by the consumer. You're probably aware of product placement in the movies. That Fed Ex truck in an integral scene of a Bruce Willis thriller is no coincidence. Some individuals have made a fortune selling product placements in Hollywood.

When a consumer is shopping for a bottle of wine, a label with a swordfish or leaping lizard might win a sale on looks alone. A clever logo, striking colors and unusual packaging can bring in millions for a company. I recently purchased a hostess gift because the packaging was spring-like, stunning and looked expensive despite the $12.99 price tag. I can't tell you whether the box contained chocolates, candy or cookies--but it certainly complemented my hostess's décor and party theme.

Branding is a critical part of your business. I didn't have an advertising budget when I began Le Gourmet. However, I knew that repetitive reminders are necessary for the consumer to understand your business. So I begin a creative, no-money marketing strategy. I left cards on my dry cleaner's bulletin board and brochures in ladies' rooms. I also posted magnetic signs I bartered for on my two delivery cars. Even if they didn't know who I was or what I did, people would often say, "Oh, I've heard of Le Gourmet!" That's exactly what it's about. Getting the name out there is your priority no matter what you're selling.

We've been marketing the Le Gourmet name for years. So although we're one business among many, if a consumer looking for a franchise or a gift basket picks up a phone book or googles the web, she's more likely to pick out a name she's heard before.

One of my franchisees was looking for creative ways to get her name out to the public. She couldn't give away gift baskets and could only afford a small bit of advertising. So she designed a flier with a 20 percent-off coupon, went to the busiest open-area shopping mall in Denver and offered free chocolates and the coupon to consumers there. Her time was well-spent: She wrote her product off as a marketing expense, and her charming personality brought in some great orders. If people know you, trust you and like you, you'll have a good baseline to develop an impressive clientele.

You have to convey the quality and value you provide to every current and future client. Get quality business cards, decent photographs that depict what you're selling, clear descriptions of your product or service and, finally, accessibility. There's nothing worse than spending time and creativity branding your business and then greeting clients with an answering machine or, worse yet, no option to leave a message at all.

When you do communicate with clients--in person, by phone or through the web--be clear and concise: Don't overwhelm with information, but do explain the who, what, where and why of your business, followed by your pricing.

You really can market anything and make a profit. Don't drop the idea of chocolate alligators just because someone else has already created them. Odds are, you can do it better, cheaper and more memorably.

Elevator Speech - Another way to increase your sales!

There are as many ways to sell as there are personalities. I once had a business associate, a very gregarious Italian gentleman, who could literally grab a complete stranger by the arm at a trade show and within a minute or two be engaged with what looked to be an old friend. He would then lead the “old” friend over to his product and tell him that it was something he absolutely had to have, and more often than not the friend would agree and sign an order.

I’ve also known more quiet and introspective types (me, for example) who considered salesmanship to be nothing more than a two-way conversation that explored whether mutual needs and interests could be met.

The moral here is that you don’t need to “put on an act” to be an effective seller of your product or service. Take your own personality and style and build your presentation around that.

An essential tool for any sales effort is the “elevator speech.” The name comes from the imagined situation in which you step into an elevator and see a very important potential client and you have about thirty seconds to make your pitch. In other words, with a very few sentences you need to clearly state what you have to offer and why it’s different from the 10,000 similar items on the market.

In fact, your product might not be substantially different at all; but a creative elevator speech, or hook, should make it seem so. This is not duplicity. It’s marketing.

Here’s an example. In my local paper, I’ve seen ads for “Swedish housecleaning” and “Brazilian housecleaning” services. I’m going to make the wild assumption that the process of cleaning a house is not substantially different no matter what country the house is in. However, there is something subtly exotic about having your house cleaned in the Swedish fashion, isn’t there? Marketing.

Give some thought to your own elevator speech. If you don’t have one, create one. If you have one, see if you can refresh it. With minor variations, you’ll be able to use it in conversation and in print. Consider it the headline for your own sales story.

********************

Dennis Fried has had careers ranging from physicist, to philosophy professor, to marketing director. He now assists his famous author-dog, Genevieve, with her writing career. Her newest book (Small Dog, Big Life: Memoirs of a Furry Genius) is out on May 5 from Simon & Schuster.  To contact Genevieve and Dennis, please email them at [email protected].  

Conversion Rate - Don't send people to your home page!

 How many of you have been trying to increase your conversion rate? I know that I have.  For months I've been trying to get people to buy cute dog paw car magnets from my business, Fun Car Tattoos.  I've really tried hard to get the word out about all my fun car magnets but... I've been linking people back to my home page.

Well, according the following article I found in the San Francisco Chronicle, I should have been linking people back to my specific product page and not my home page.

How Can I Improve the Conversion Rate of My Internet Marketing Campaign?

The success of an Internet marketing campaign can be measured by its conversion rate. Depending on your site and your type of business, your conversion rate may be based on convincing readers to become subscribers, encouraging people to buy something, or enticing prospective customers from another site with an ad. The best way to convert users is to provide them with all the information they need to make an informed decision.

Online marketing is direct response marketing, so you need to encourage the customer to act. And action is determined by letting customers know what and why they should click. They need a compelling differentiated benefit.

Compelling because it sparks them to act.

Differentiated because your offer is different from what they can get elsewhere.

Benefit because they have to get value out of it.

You may try to lure customers to your site with a discount on your service. You advertise the discount in an email newsletter. A potential customer is exposed to the email link and is attracted to the discount that you're offering. When potential customers click on the link, they need to go to a specific page that will educate them about the discount and entice them to sign up for your service. If the link takes people to a page without the information they need -- or, even worse, your home page -- odds are you'll lose the customer. Home pages have the lowest conversion rate in terms of purchasing.

In addition, by sending people to a specific page to learn more about your offer, you can easily measure the conversion rate -- the percentage who sign up for your offer compared with the total visitors to that page. Keep in mind that it often takes people more than one visit to a site to convert them.